A good salesman seeks to empower his customer to make a wise purchasing decision. He does this by asking questions to determine the customer’s needs and desires. He can then direct the customer to the products and features that will be most satisfying. Bad salesmen, on the other hand, show no concern for what the customer needs or desires. He thinks that he knows what is best for the customer.
This type of patronizing attitude isn’t limited to salesmen. Those promoting political ideas often take the same approach. They tell the victims of their scheme that they—the advocates—know what is best for those who will be controlled and restricted. An example can be found at AmericanCityandCountry.com.
Scott McGill promotes the idea of periodic rental inspections by government authorities and argues that every city should adopt such a program. Not surprisingly, McGill works for 3Di Systems, a company that provides “ideas, education, and reflections for stronger communities.”
He writes, “Without periodic inspections, disrepair is an inevitability.” This is certainly true because you can’t fix what you don’t know is broken. But McGill implies that property owners do not conduct inspections on their own and must rely on government officials to tell them what needs repair. Property owners, he wants us to believe, don’t know what is in their own best interest. Government officials do.
If a property owner wants to maintain his rental housing—and most landlords do—then he will conduct periodic inspections. And he won’t wait the four years that McGill suggests for government inspections. If we adopted McGill’s proposal, a problem that develops a month after an inspection won’t be discovered for another four years. That will lead to the major repairs that McGill claims his program will avoid.
I appreciate good salesmen. They help me understand my options and which product will best serve my interests. However, a good salesman treats me like a rational adult and helps me decide what is best for me. A bad salesman acts as if he knows more about my desires and values than I do. He will then resort to manipulation, or in McGill’s case, government coercion to impose his conclusions on me.