Welcome friends!
I was just reading another article that brought to mind the curious love affair some conservatives seem to be having with utter nonsense. It’s getting rather comical. Indeed, I suspect Mr. Trump’s main credential as a conservative must be that he peddles unadulterated poppycock. I think conservatives have confined themselves to talking nonsense for so long they’ve developed a positive taste for it or if they still don’t like it at some level at least can no longer detect it. Hey, it happens. Like eating salt. What tastes salty? Whatever is slightly saltier than the last thing one ate. If the last thing was a potato chip you’re in trouble. Same thing with nonsense. How idiotic does Trump have to sound before conservatives notice and begin to have reservations? Apparently pretty damned idiotic indeed. What is all this pre-Trump nonsense I’m talking about? Well, I discussed last time the curious notion that having a so-called free market will solve all our economic woes and in particular ensure a fair and equitable distribution of resources. Don’t know where they got that from but they’ve been saying that for decades. They may have been saying that since Victorian times. Nothing that happens in the world and no developments in the field of economics seem capable of changing that conviction. The article that got me going this week addressed a slightly different but just as long lived conservative talking point: the importance of cutting taxes and shrinking government. The article simply pointed out there is no real empirical evidence for this idea. Indeed, countries with faster growing economies tend to have somewhat higher taxes and larger governments. Of course as the article pointed out this might be because people in countries that are doing well simply have higher expectations with respect to their governments dealing with social issues. Countries are not necessarily growing faster because they have high taxes and large governments. The point is simply the data show in the real world higher economic growth rates tend to go along with higher taxes and larger governments for one reason or another. Given this state of affairs one wonders why conservatives are so adamant about this particular policy prescription. Indeed, after listening to them talk about this idea for decades I rather suspect it’s the only policy idea they really have. At least they seem to trot it out no matter what is actually happening in the world. Did Wall Street generate a stock market crash that threatened the economy? We need to lower taxes and shrink government. Is most of the wealth going to a small group of people at the top? We need to lower taxes and shrink government. Do we have a bunch of unemployed poor people with guns shooting one another and random other people as well? We need to lower taxes and shrink government. Kind of like the old snake oil one could find at the local agricultural fair. Good for whatever ails you.
But of course the great underlying question is why are conservatives drawn to this sort of thing? Why don’t they seem to care about facts? ... Sorry but only selected archived (previous year) posts are currently available full text on this website. All posts including this one are available in my annual anthology ebook series available at the Amazon Kindle Bookstore for a nominal fee. Hey, we all need to make a buck somehow, right? If you find my timeless jewels of wisdom amusing or perhaps even amusingly irritating throw me a bone now and then. Thank you my friends!
