Progressives too afraid to take risks

Ed Dornlas, Las Vegas

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 | 2:06 a.m.

Paul Krugman’s column in Tuesday’s Las Vegas Sun, “Drilling, disaster and denial,” regarding the Gulf of Mexico oil catastrophe, is interesting in that it illustrates the difference between the progressives who have taken hold of the Democratic Party and mainstream America.

Progressives pander to our desire for security. They say it’s too dangerous to drill for oil offshore or in Alaska. It’s too dangerous to build nuclear reactors to generate power. It’s too risky to build oil refineries. It’s too dangerous to burn fossil fuels because that risks climate change.

In domestic matters, progressives say it’s too dangerous to allow financial institutions or auto companies to fail, or to allow health care to take place without the government being in charge.

All of these things clearly involve risk to individuals and the country. But in each case, there is a cost to allowing government supervision. That cost is to give over the opportunity for success in return for saving us from possible failure. Successful people know that failure often leads to ultimate success.

I admired Las Vegas long before I was able to move here because, here in the desert, men have built an audacious enterprise with imagination, skill and guts that lures people from around the world. Consider the financial and personal risks that went into creating this town and consider what we would have if no one had been willing to take those risks.