I like to browse thru some left-wing sites just to keep up on what's going on with the other side. Today I was over at Open Left and came across a post entitled, "New Deal Denialism--Conservative Liars On The Rampage." This post is a clear example of how some on the left are so utterly clueless & irrational, that is impossible to even talk with them. The author starts out with the assertion that:
conservative economics collapses disastrously under the weight of its many, many lies
He's not trying to be funny, he actually believes what he's writing. What "conservative economics" is he talking about? Who knows. He goes on to argue that any deviation from the Keynesian view of the New Deal and its effects following the Great Depression is "New Deal Denialism." Anyone who disagrees with his canon truth is not just wrong, they are lying. The author is apparently oblivious to the fact that almost every aspect of the Great Depression & the economic history that followed it is highly debated by historians and economists. He puts up a chart illustrating that he doesn't understand that correlation does not imply causation, and again dismisses everyone who disagrees with his views as a bunch of liars. Again, they don't just have a different interpretation -- they are lying.
This attitude is typical of a certain breed of leftists, and of fanatics of any stripe. They know the TRUTH, and anyone who disagrees is not just wrong but acting out of evil motives. How could anyone possibly disagree with the TRUTH?
Reading this post I had two conflicting impressions. First, "UNRR is wasting his time trying to catalogue all the ways leftists are irrational and vindictive," and then, "Kudos to UNRR for continuing to catalogue all the ways leftists are irrational and vindictive." (I'm sure the barometric pressure is to blame.)
ReplyDeleteThe New Deal is one of the many Third Rails of American leftism - don't you dare criticize it. This bizarre taboo is one of the reasons it took so long to get rid of AFDC; when a smiling New Yorker with a big education and a resume with "longshoreman" on it took to criticizing AFDC and making absolutely accurate prophecies, he was pilloried as a conservative (and some other things).