The blogosphere is ablaze with discussions of redistribution: who redistributes to who, how much redistribution is happening, and so on. As it is, the discussion is not particularly lopsided. The right-wing can claim we are redistributing to poor folks because of government programs. The left-wing can claim we are redistributing to rich folks because of… Continue reading There is no such thing as redistribution
Category: Rhetoric
The hidden gem in Romney’s disaster speech
The press is having a field day with a secretly taped video of Mitt Romney speaking to high-level donors to his campaign. In the most notable part of the video, Romney blasts half of the country that he is oddly running to represent: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the… Continue reading The hidden gem in Romney’s disaster speech
Why Republicans talk about hardship of parents and grandparents
Chris Hayes and Kevin Drum have been commenting on the odd phenomenon of Republican politicians constantly invoking the hardship of their parents and grandparents. Almost without fail, GOP politicians reach back as far as they need to in their family history to find some story about someone coming from humble beginnings and doing better for… Continue reading Why Republicans talk about hardship of parents and grandparents
The never-ending libertarian quest to appear clever
I have been following an amusing back-and-forth between Bryan Caplan (I, II, III) and Matt Yglesias about Bastiat’s That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen. Initially, Caplan points out that individuals often support left-leaning economic policies for wrong reasons, and that he likes Bastiat because his tidy little stories (e.g. the parable… Continue reading The never-ending libertarian quest to appear clever
The left and the “younger generation”
I find left discussions about the younger generation obnoxious for two main reasons. First, generations are diverse and lack unified or coherent interests. As such, you can’t ever really speak of a generation being harmed, only specific elements within a generation being harmed. The opposite is true as well: you can’t speak about a generation… Continue reading The left and the “younger generation”