Love Gov and the unintended consequences of ‘good intentions’
Religion & Liberty Online

Love Gov and the unintended consequences of ‘good intentions’

love_gov_screenshot_independent_instituteDespite the partisan rhetoric that tends to dominate in America, most of us realize that, for all our disagreements, our neighbors often have the best of intentions. But when it comes to public policy, good intentions are not enough to create human flourishing. That’s why a primary task of the Acton Institute is “connecting good intentions with sound economics.” Without sound economics as a foundation, good intentions tend to lead to detrimental unintended consequences.

Convincing the public of this reality isn’t easy, but a video series produced by the Independent Institute provides some amusing and thought-provoking examples. The series Love Gov portrays the federal government as an overbearing boyfriend—Scott “Gov” Govinsky—who imposes his “good intentions” on the hapless, idealistic college student, Alexis. The results of Gov’s well-meaning actions are frequently not what Alexis would have expected.

Here is the trailer and the first two videos of the award-winning series:

Episode: 1 – An Education in Debt

Episode 2 – Protection from Jobs

Joe Carter

Joe Carter is a Senior Editor at the Acton Institute. Joe also serves as an editor at the The Gospel Coalition, a communications specialist for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and as an adjunct professor of journalism at Patrick Henry College. He is the editor of the NIV Lifehacks Bible and co-author of How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator (Crossway).