Reverse Engineering Works in Human Affairs and Legislation, Too

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Praxeology, or deducing intent by action, is nothing more than reverse engineering as applied to humans rather than machinery. It completely amazes me the number of people who understand that you design a keyboard, for instance, by including the sorts of things a keyboard needs and not including extraneous objects or features unless there is a good practical reason. You design software the same way. Even Microsoft has what it believes to be good reasons for all the extraneous nonsense: They want to also sell you your internet browser, your office and productivity software and many other things, and prevent erosion of that segment of the software market they already hold by locking out third parties to the extent possible.

Reverse engineering intent from design or social programs or legislation works by exactly the same principle. No matter what it is entitled, a law authorizing a military assault on the nation of Neverwas is a declaration of war, and those voting for it are voting to declare war on Neverwas. You can call it the Flying Magical Unicorn Preservation Act; it remains a declaration of war.

It is axiomatic that those writing such a bill intended the structures directly embedded into it. A law calling for the creation of a new federal bureaucracy intends the creation of that bureaucracy. It's not like the section dealing with the creation of that bureaucracy suddenly leaped onto the pages of the bill unbeknownst to the authors - they intentionally put them there. A law giving the Federal government power it did not heretofore have intends to give the Federal government that power. Well understood, obvious first order consequences are just as obviously intended. A bill that cuts the supply of a good, or makes it more difficult or costly to supply that good, or creates a delay upon the supply of a good, intends not only the direct, stated intent but also includes the obvious first order effect of increasing the cost of that good.

By their defense of given segments or all of such a law, the commitment to precisely those intentions as encoded in the law are tested. If, when challenged, a former sponsor looks at the law and says to the opponent, "You are right. That segment of the law could (or would) be applied to obtain a very different effect than the one I desire," then that former sponsor, in amending the law, signals that their intentions are other than what one could deduce from reading that law.

If, on the other hand, the sponsor doubles down and says, "This section as it sits is something I very much support" then that sponsor is signalling that their intentions are precisely in line with the effects of the bill. If they weren't, they would willingly amend or delete that section.

By consideration of a piece of legislation, we can very accurately gauge what its authors intended to accomplish. A piece of legislation that grants subsidies for flour mills wants to make it cheaper to mill flour. This encourages the grinding of grain, the making of bread, and encourages the growing of grain. A bill enacting subsidies for conversion of corn to motor vehicle fuel will encourage a larger proportion of the corn crop to be used for motor vehicle fuel. More corn will also be grown, and less of competing crops to take advantage of the subsidy - lowering the amount of food available, and raising the price of it. All of these effects are sufficiently direct to be certain of oneself when concluding that the authors of these bills intended for all of these effects. That's simple reverse engineering - praxeology, when applied to human endeavor.

If I wanted to make medical care cheaper, I would enact, perhaps, a subsidy for medical students. Or expand medical and nursing schools. I would make it cheaper, easier for practicing professionals to stay current, to discharge their obligations to their patients. I would find a way to make medicines cheaper, to encourage their development. I would look for solutions that cut the bureaucratic requirements, or the amount of effort that goes into getting reimbursement from insurance. I would be looking for ways to cut the involvement of the insurance companies - their bureaucracy isn't free, you know.

If, on the other hand, I intended a massive federal power grab, massive redistribution of wealth, decreasing ability on the part of the average person to access the most advanced healthcare, increasing the costs to insurance companies and doctors and other medical providers who must pass those increases on to consumers if they want to stay in business, forces insurance companies to cancel perfectly good plans forcing their former clients to buy new, more expensive plans providing features they neither need nor desire, then praxeology says I must have intended all of these bad effects and more - no matter that the title of the bill says "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act"

There really isn't anywhere for the proponents of this abomination to hide. They intended this, otherwise why did they defend it against all opposition, ram it roughshod through the legislative process in about the most confrontational manner possible, with worthless promises they knew were lies when they uttered them? Why did they delay the implementation of all the important parts until after the election of 2012, if they expected voters to like what actually happened? Why did they delay further implementation until after the mid-term elections of 2014 (illegally!) if they expect voters to actually like what happens when implemented? They know damned well voters aren't going to like it - but remember, they intended for all of this to happen.

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