Why Governments Always Make Crises Worse
January 2, 2026 · Frisian News
When crisis strikes, governments respond with blunt force and price controls that trap people in their own neighborhoods. History shows that panic and central planning amplify the damage ordinary citizens suffer.
Last week a food shortage hit three provinces, and within hours the government froze prices and banned private transport of grain. Shelves emptied not because food vanished, but because officials told people they could not move it themselves. Panic spread faster than the actual shortage. Governments believe they control reality through decree. They do not. They control only the power to stop their own citizens from solving problems.
Look at what happened in 2020. Lockdowns did not stop the virus. They stopped hospitals from treating cancer, pushed small shops into bankruptcy, and convinced millions that their neighbors were disease vectors. Governments locked people in their homes, crashed supply chains, and then acted shocked when inflation hit. The virus would have cost lives. The government response cost livelihoods, childhoods, and mental health. Which one was worse? Officials still will not answer that question.
The pattern repeats because government solves crises the only way it knows how: by removing choice from ordinary people and handing control to experts who have never run a business or made payroll. Price controls do not create food. They destroy the signal that tells farmers to plant more. Travel bans do not stop disease. They stop the truck driver from bringing medicine to his sick mother. Rationing does not help the poor. It creates black markets where only the connected buy at fair prices.
Small towns and villages manage their own crises better than capitals do. When a factory closes in a small place, neighbors know who needs help and provide it without a form in triplicate. When a flood hits a village, people move to higher ground and rebuild together. They do not wait for a subsidy or a press conference. Government works at scale. Crisis works at human scale. These do not match.
The next crisis will come, and government will panic again. It will freeze, ban, and control. People will suffer not from the crisis itself but from the cure. The only honest response is to stop pretending that central power solves emergencies. It does not. It only decides who takes the losses first.
Foarie wike troffen in materie-tekoart trije provinsjes, en binnen oeren freau de regering prijzen en ferbiedt it privaat-transport fan graan. Planken leegje net om't materie ferdwine wie, mar om't aamtners minsken it sels net ferpleatse mochten. Panyk fersprieade him rapper as it werklike tekoart. Regeringen leauwe dat se realiteit fia dekree kontrolearje. Dat dogge se net. Se kontrolearje allinne de macht om har eigen boargers fan it oplosten fan problemen ôf te hâlden.
Sjoch wat yn 2020 bart. Lockdowns stopten it firus net. Se stopten sikehûzen fan kankerbehaneling, dûbelen lytse winkels yn faillissement, en oertsjinne miljoenen dat har buoren syktefektor wiene. Regeringen sluten minsken thús, beskadigje fuorsjiltkeatten, en wiene dan sjokkearre as ynflasje taslach. It firus soe libben kostje. It oerheidswer kostet ynkommen, jeugd, en geastlik sûnens. Wa wie der slimmer? Aamtners wolle dy frage noch steeds net beantwordzje.
It patroan herielt sik om't regjering krizen op de ienige manier oploste dy't it wit: troch gewoane minsken fan keazing te beraem en kontrole oan eksperts te jaan dy't nea in bedriuw draaien of salarys útbetelle hawwe. Prijskontrôle meitsje gjin materie. Se ferneatigje it sinjaal dat telje boeren mear plant. Reizen-beperkingen stopje gjin sykte. Se stopje de besjouwer fan medisinen oan syn sike mem te bringen. Rantsoenearring helpt de earmen net. It makket swarte merkten dêr allinne koaneksjes fair tsjin prijs keapje.
Lytse stêd en doarpen beheare har eigen krizen better as haadstêden dogge. As in fabryk yn in lytse plak slút, wite buorren wa help nedich hat en biede it sûnder in formulier yn tredûbel. As in oerstroom in doarp treacht, ferhusze minsken nei heger grûn en bouwe tegearre. Se wachtsje net op in subsidje of perskonferinsje. Regjering wurket op skaal. Krisis wurket op minskelike skaal. Dizze passe net byinoar.
De folgjende krisis sil kommen, en regjering sil opnij yn panyk reitsje. It sil freze, ferbiede, en kontrolearje. Minsken sille lide net fan de krisis sels, mar fan it medisyn. De ienige earlike antwurd is op te hâlde mei foargean te doen dat sintrale macht noodgefallen oploste. Dat docht it net. It bepaalt allinne wa earst de ferliezen nimt.
Published January 2, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân