When Mechanisms Fail

Every viable government, societal structure, or theory of societal organization includes multiple mechanisms to prevent undesirable things from occurring. The capitalists and libertarians generally support people being as self-governing as possible, but they depend on mechanisms like contracts and legal stipulations (like truth in advertising) that are enforceable by a government to prevent abuses to the system. Socialists place regulations on hand-outs to prevent abuses to the safety net. Our current government has a powerful system of checks and balances to prevent the tyranny that was one of the greatest fears of our founding fathers.

Unfortunately, no system is perfect, because any system is, at best, limited by the people within it. Failed mechanisms are often the greatest argument against an ideal, system, or philosophy. When a system sees a failure of one of its mechanisms, thereby having an undesirable result, it is the greatest ammunition for those who disagree with the system. This is especially the case when the undesirable result was predicted by the opponents of the system.

So what does an idealist do when mechanisms fail? What is the measure of a good mechanism, and how much bearing does it have on the validity of the ideal itself? I suppose the answer lies in a few basic principles:

1) Does the mechanism required violate the ideal itself? If so, and an exception is necessary and acceptable, is there a method that agrees with the ideal for setting limits on the exception? for instance, if your capitalist system requires some safety net to be workable, is there a capitalistic method for setting a firm limit on the exception so that it does not take over the initial system?

2) Did the mechanism that was put in place fail due to the principles of the ideal itself, or simply due to human nature?

3) Did the mechanism break down quickly, or did it stand the test of generations? Sometimes the volatility of humanity does not permit any mechanism to prevent corruption forever, but if a system can last long enough, then the system is not a bad one.

4) Can the mechanism be reset or rebuilt, or a better one put in its place without destabilizing the system?

5) Can you live with the reality of your ideal without functioning mechanisms? If not, then something in your ideal may have to change. After all, if your system causes harm when not regulated by another system, then it is hardly functional to start with.