The Frog In The Pot
By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK Mark Twain’s story about how a frog will leap to save its life if dropped suddenly into a pot of boiling water, but sit and permit itself to be boiled to death if the heat is turned up gradually, is cited often by commentators. That is because it makes an important point: People will tolerate changes that they would find intolerable on first hearing if the changes are introduced gradually enough. Think about how our forebears would have reacted when the idea of a federal income tax was first put on the table in the early years of the 20th century — if they were told about the income taxes we are paying these days. Or…Continue Reading