Recently, a few neighbors in Williamson County, Tennessee, learned that the beautiful sidewalks in front of their homes had to be removed so they could be rebuilt two more feet away from the street. The houses are new. The sidewalks are new, beautiful, and separated from the street by meticulously maintained six-foot grass strip between the curb and the sidewalk. “What could be the reason for this?”, asked a growing neighborhood assembly of affected homeowners. “What about all the work we have done on our yards and landscaping this summer?’, they exclaimed. The answer – the Public Works Department of Williamson County determined that the separation between the sidewalk and the curb, on a street with the traffic volume of this one, is stipulated to be eight feet instead of the existing six feet. The response – pretty much what you would expect, and exactly the response one would get in Glasgow. The government regulations are choking businesses and making it impossible for growth! No one elected these government employees, and they should not have such power! Fire the engineers! We all know that strict regulations on development stop business from investing and halts growth, right?
Wrong. Many developers and neighborhood groups certainly
think those feelings are accurate but let us examine how often that illusion of
knowledge is that which is responsible for holding back progress. The sidewalk
issue in Williamson County happened in a moderate sized housing development,
one that presently has over 50 houses under construction. Developments of this
size are common in Williamson County, even in the face of these strict construction
standards. The development standards are thoughtfully derived and rigidly
enforced. The result is a variety of breath-takingly beautiful places to live,
and growth beyond what can normally be imagined. Building safe, attractive
housing delivers results. Williamson County is the fastest growing in Tennessee
and one of the fastest growing counties in the United States! Contrary to popular
thought, strong governments, and well-designed rules, ignite growth instead of
snuffing it out. Instead, strong rules (and persistent enforcement thereof)
snuff out the weak, corrupt, and unskilled businesses that seek profit before
excellence.
Daniel Boorstin, the former Librarian of Congress and award-winning
author and historian, summed up this truth relative to the discoveries of Christopher
Columbus, long before the errant sidewalks were discovered in Williamson
County. Boorstin said, “The greatest obstacle to discovering the shape of the earth, the
continents, and the oceans was not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge.” He
was right, of course, Christopher Columbus and his team of discoverers proved
common “knowledge” wrong. That same equation has been proven again and again
over the years. Our problem is that we cannot seem to learn from it.
The story of the CEO of a medium-sized company in Seattle also
echoes the discoveries that can be made when one ventures away from “known”
truths. Dan Price managed his company in Seattle, where he had an idea to pay each of his 120 employees a minimum of $70,000 per
year! In 2015 he wasn’t sure how he could afford this decision, and he
immediately was faced with the firm illusions of knowledge espoused by television talking heads and Harvard Business School graduate-types, that this
move would immediately bankrupt the company and turn his team into sloths. “This
is socialism!”, many pundits exclaimed. But that isn’t what happened. So far,
he has begun fulfilling that promise by giving 20% annual salary increases to
his employees and promising to reach the $70,000 minimum within three years. “I
just decided I’m gonna do $70,000. I don’t care if I have to stop paying
myself or I have to work 20 hours as day. I’m going to do it.”, said Price. Guess
who was right, Price or the know-nothing pundits and keyboard junkies?
Instead of spiraling into financial failure and socialism, that
corporation has since doubled its number of employees, their gross revenue
doubled, and ten times as many of the employees were able to start families and
purchase homes. Once again, the illusion of knowledge was dispelled, and new
knowledge was revealed. These events are not flukes. Rather, they are new worlds
awaiting discovery by those possessing the grit to explore.
Back in Glasgow, discoverers are in short supply. Whether it be an idea to create new rules to eradicate litter and dilapidated property, a proposal to construct a new downtown park, or improved taxing methods to generate revenue for personnel and infrastructure, the knee-jerk reactions from internet pundits and amateur journalists, is the same. You must not do that! It cannot work! Everyone is already taxed to their limits! But these examples of ignoring those responses prove otherwise, and they illuminate the route from where Glasgow is today, to where it wants to be. Daniel Boorstin summed up the history of these discoveries this way, “We must abandon the prevalent belief in the superior wisdom of the ignorant.”
