Educating the Left
I'm sitting at a Panera near my home taking advantage of their free wi-fi and getting out of the home office for a bit. I hear a conversation between two men in a booth near me. Let's call the first guy "Eugene" in honor of Eugene Debs. The second guy was pretty much silent.
Eugene: "So I don't think it would be a bad thing if the economy shrunk. In fact, it would be good for the environment. I could just work in the warehouse for a while or something."
Second Guy: "Mmm" (presumably eating, or dumbfounded).
Eugene: "Yeah, it just feels like the country is moving in a socialist direction."
This got me thinking: the business my wife and I founded has a mission to educate other small business owners in our area of expertise. Basically, we want to help them make better decisions. If "Eugene" is as ignorant as he seems, does it make sense to take a similar approach with the left? The subject, of course, would be the workings of the free market.
It's an easy idea to scoff at, but I'd submit that this is one of the things that Marco Rubio did to win his Senate seat. I watched the full hourlong session he had with the Miami Herald editorial board. In it, he kept talking about how the economy creates jobs -- and he did it in a way that didn't belittle his audience, using tangible examples to drive home the broader point. He was simply trying to help them make better decisions.
We take it for granted that people understand some of the basic assumptions we make. Clearly, that is a mistake. What do you think? Is the education of the liberal left on your agenda?
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Sep '11
Re: Educating the Left
Since I have started writing on the Internet, I have learned to my dismay that I am not quite the great communicator that I thought I was. I know where I am coming from; too often, I assume that everyone else does too, but of course, they don't. How could they? This is a big problem for all of us.
I dislike Obamacare, but I am not convinced that it is the threat to civilization that conservatives say it is. Switzerland has nationalized healthcare; they also have the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, and are a prosperous country. I suspect that the Swiss do nationalized healthcare much better than American liberals will, but I need conservatives to explain why Switzerland is wrong.
Oct '10
Re: Educating the Left
How many non-Swiss go to Switzerland for critical care, and how many non-Americans come to the US for critical care? How do the health care metrics compare between the 2 countries, adjusting for non-health events (e.g. accidental deaths, etc.)? I don't know the answers; I just wonder whether the Swiss system takes better care of their people than America's does hers. Or if it's the old, "we have health insurance; it's health care we lack."
Sep '11
Re: Educating the Left
Also, just to clarify, I am the first to admit that I am uninformed on this issue, but then again, so are most Americans. Being conservative in most respects, I am very open to hearing conservatives make their case, but mostly what I hear is hysteria; we are losing our freedom, the American people are enemies of liberty, the barbarians are at the gates, etc....Maybe that hysteria is well founded, but conservatives need to get a grip: most of the people who vote for liberals are uninformed. It is our job to inform them, in a calm and patient way. Calling them barbarians isn't going to work. :)
Feb '11
Re: Educating the Left
If someone believes economic decline is a good thing, you aren't going to be able to convert him to free-market economics by arguing persuasively that it will create more economic growth!
And here, I think, is a key difference between the old Left and the contemporary Left. I'm not a Debs expert, but old-style socialists in general, whether of the American domestic variety or the Soviet variety, argued that their system would create MORE economic growth than capitalism.
The moment when Leftists switched from arguing that they could create more growth to arguing that growth wasn't so good can be dated pretty well by the release and popularity of Malvina Reynolds' mid-1960s song, "Little Boxes."
Jul '10
Re: Educating the Left
Judithann,
The last sentence of your comment is precisely why I mentioned that Rubio didn't belittle his audience. Instead, his tone issued an invitation to join him in something he clearly had a lot of energy for. It's hard to say no when someone like that is selling.
On a related note, how many times did I read a conservative pundit putting down undecided voters? How many times did I hear it on the podcast? Had I been in that category, I know where I would have gone with my vote, just out of spite. A similar prejudice overtook this site a couple of years ago during the World Cup. People just poured derision and insults on a phenomenon they tried little to understand. No it's not the same, just a similar jump to shoot fish in a barrel for others' approval.
Edited on November 12, 2012 at 10:26pmJun '11
Re: Educating the Left
Judithann,
I've done no independent research on the quality of the Swiss healthcare system, but, for the sake of argument, I will accept your premise that it works well enough.
But "Why is Switzerland wrong" is the wrong question.
The right question is why anyone thinks a healthcare system that works for a highly affluent (and physically fit) population of 7.8 million people would also work just as well for a population of 312 million people, many of whom are not affluent and most of whom are definitely not physically fit.
A much more appropriate question would be this:
Thinking back on any experience you've ever had in dealing with the federal government of this country, what would lead you to believe that it has any chance of administering our health care system in anything other than a clumsy, blundering, bureaucratically obese and grossly inefficient manner?
Jul '10
Re: Educating the Left
Great points, David. Thanks for posting. After all, Debs was a socialist before the Soviet Union existed. There was no intent to illustrate that distinction, he's simply an infamous socialist figure from Indiana, so his name always comes to mind.
Jul '10
Re: Educating the Left
Colin, thanks, I like your reasoning. The problem I see with that line of "explanation" is that it supposes that the person has had contact with the Federal government, other than on taxes. Bear with me...
Many people deal with the Federal government once a year on taxes, and sometimes, they simply sign the accountant's bill. For the young taxpayer, they only note the amount of refund and think that it was "given." They do not yet "own" the income that was lost.
So, these individuals have no basis to relate to your argument. God bless 'em.
Jun '11
Re: Educating the Left
Chris O.: Colin, thanks, I like your reasoning. The problem I see with that line of "explanation" is that it supposes that the person has had contact with the Federal government, other than on taxes. Bear with me...
Many people deal with the Federal government once a year on taxes, and sometimes, they simply sign the accountant's bill. For the young taxpayer, they only note the amount of refund and think that it was "given." They do not yet "own" the income that was lost.
So, these individuals have no basis to relate to your argument. God bless 'em.
A fair point (though if they have ridden an Amtrak train, there wouldn't be a lot of persuading to do).
So take the unit of government down to the next level. Ask them how their most recent BMV experience went. And then ask them whether they would like for their next visit to the doctor to feel like visiting the BMV.
Oct '10
Re: Educating the Left
I don't know about that. The young taxpayers I know take one look at the deductions boxes on their first paystub and have a conniption. And when they (sometimes) don't get all of the Federal number back (I have to explain to them why they're not (ever) going to get the SS or Medi numbers back), they are not happy, even with a refund.
It's only when they get older that they (paradoxically) think the refund is "given" by the government.
Sep '11
Re: Educating the Left
Since making the comment about Switzerland, I have done a little web surfing on it. From what I gather, Switzerland has very little in common with other European health systems; they mandate that people must buy insurance, but there are many competing companies from which to buy, and employers are left out of the equation: it seems that the Swiss buy health insurance the way we buy car insurance. I am a dunce at grabbing links, but if you google "Swiss health care problems", fourth in line is a Forbes' article praising the Swiss system. Which does not mean that I support it; I don't know enough about it. Many conservatives seem to think that those who voted for Obama voted to change America into France; I doubt that. I brought up the example of Switzerland because I suspect that we are far more likely to end up resembling Switzerland than we are to resemble any other European country; Americans will never give up their guns.
Aug '10
Re: Educating the Left
The academic and international left has been pushing the 'low growth' theme for some time. The start of that movement can be traced back to the Club of Rome and 'limits to growth' movements of that time, and the modern form of that which is the focus on 'sustainability'. The modern left believes that we should make do with less, stop focusing on growth, and live in a 'sustainable' manner - meaning we don't use up anything that we can't replace.
To support this notion, many on the left believe that we should start paying everyone a 'living wage' whether or not they work, that we need to transition to a part-time work force, scale back the suburbs and pack people into apartments and mass transit.
To such people, high unemployment is only a problem of welfare, and not of jobs. Just tax the rich enough to give the people who don't work a 'living wage', and the problem is solved. Sure, that will impact growth, but that's a good thing, because it will help curb global warming and save the planet.
That's honestly how many of them think. Greece as model for the world.
Jul '10
Re: Educating the Left
Thanks everyone for the thoughtful comments. Ditto, I agree some are outraged, but when I think back to my time living in Chicago, I never heard a peep from anyone even when the local Sales Tax went up more than a percent. The courts later struck some of that increase down before it went into effect, but the point is all of it happened under the unwatchful gaze of millions.
Colin, re: the BMV, great idea. That might not work here as Mitch Daniels just spent eight years making our state government more responsive, but then we're not the problem: 54.3% for Romney, though it should have been higher.
Judithann, thanks for taking a look at Switzerland. The problem with that model is that the state exchanges which are supposed to allow companies to compete for our business have two limitations that will ultimately kill them: 1) services offered will be determined by the government; 2) profit margin will be determined by the government. This means that options will quickly be limited and the plan the government offers can easily undercut the private carriers in both price and services.
Jul '10
Re: Educating the Left
Dan, I agree with everything you said. Those aren't the people we need to convince. It's those wanting to work more than part-time, those wanting to get ahead and not simply lead a "living wage" life.
I'm not saying take the message to everyone, but opportunities do present themselves.
On a related note, I asked my parents how they made it through the 70's (I was too young to remember anything other than 'inflation-fighting' products at the grocery and the interest rates posted at the bank just under the 20% mark). They said they always had faith something better was on the way.
Dec '10
Re: Educating the Left
Judithann Campbell: Since I have started writing on the Internet, I have learned to my dismay that I am not quite the great communicator that I thought I was. I know where I am coming from; too often, I assume that everyone else does too, but of course, they don't. How could they? This is a big problem for all of us.
I dislike Obamacare, but I am not convinced that it is the threat to civilization that conservatives say it is. Switzerland has nationalized healthcare; they also have the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, and are a prosperous country. I suspect that the Swiss do nationalized healthcare much better than American liberals will, but I need conservatives to explain why Switzerland is wrong. · 3 hours ago
But we aren't getting the Swiss system. We're getting a program designed to drive insurance companies out of business. Further, anticipated or not, it will reduce the number and quality of physicians entering the market.
I could probably live with the system the Swiss have. It ain't Obamacare.
Oct '12
Re: Educating the Left
I think it's a great cause, and the example of Rubio is wonderful.
One issue is that contractions in the economy can be a good thing, from a free market perspective (though, not in any particular way for the environment - that's just stupid).
In fact, that's part of the main thesis on why markets are superior to intervention - an economy that shrinks often does so for a reason, and wasteful stimulus spending will rarely be enough to actually correct it and almost never be directed towards where it's needed.
If Eugene's a third of the way there, even if he is a complete idiot when it comes to why he's a third of the way there, then it's at least worth the effort.
The mantra should be: the free market is common sense. Most people realize the common sense, because they live it, but they have no clue what it means. I've always found with economics, if you let someone talk it through, then show them how everything they said is gleaned from free market economics - you can start to make a dent.
Probably not with Eugene, he sounds lost.
Jan '11
Re: Educating the Left
Chris, if your game is 'educating' small businesses within a sector, you know as well as anyone that if someone isn't interested in education, nothing's going to stick -- so, the idea of showing the light to the left of center is quixotic and Sisyphean all rolled into one. Tremendous donation of our time/effort for an ROI approaching zero, so count me out.
What we can do is live well, work hard, and help each other carry out (I mean really do it, rather than just talk about it) our values -- it takes a pretty long time, but that's how a movement builds. Movements are a growing number of people who look at someone else and say, "He's got it right," and then doing something similar. That means first and foremost, we've got to do it right.
Sep '11
Re: Educating the Left
Jerry Broaddus
Judithann Campbell: Since I have started writing on the Internet, I have learned to my dismay that I am not quite the great communicator that I thought I was. I know where I am coming from; too often, I assume that everyone else does too, but of course, they don't. How could they? This is a big problem for all of us.
I dislike Obamacare, but I am not convinced that it is the threat to civilization that conservatives say it is. Switzerland has nationalized healthcare; they also have the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, and are a prosperous country. I suspect that the Swiss do nationalized healthcare much better than American liberals will, but I need conservatives to explain why Switzerland is wrong. · 3 hours ago
But we aren't getting the Swiss system. We're getting a program designed to drive insurance companies out of business. Further, anticipated or not, it will reduce the number and quality of physicians entering the market.
I could probably live with the system the Swiss have. It ain't Obamacare. · 2 minutes ago
Excellent point.
Jul '10
Re: Educating the Left
Matthew, I'll take that engagement just as well. You're right about the interest either being there or not, but since you know, you may agree it only takes one that "gets it" every now and then to restore faith...
btw, I like the font.
Edited on November 13, 2012 at 12:06amJun '10
Re: Educating the Left
Let me define "education" for you in its modern sense. Education is a system of transmission by which elite academics transmit socially acceptable ideas and principles to the masses. You might through logic convince a liberal that capitalism is a more productive system than socialism, but he will still believe that capitalism is morally wrong.