I posted about the “why I am a liberal” social media post that has been surfacing on Facebook and challenged the Ethics Alarms commentariate to dissect its rampant generalities, facile assumptions, and logical fallacies. As I wrote in the post, some previously intelligent people of my acquaintance have been reposting and praising the thing, attributing its authorship to Hollywood nice guy director Ron Howard. He didn’t write it, so this is a textbook “appeal to authority,” especially since the arguments “Ron” makes are flawed at best. They are, however, typical progressive talking points. There is no reason to believe the real Ron Howard has any political science or philosophical acumen or expertise, as he has spent literally his whole life in front of cameras or behind them.

Four EA comment stars took up my challenge, and they all shined. As promised, I am posting all four, each of which would make an excellent civics class topic, if there were high school civics classes that didn’t focus exclusively on leftist cant. (Are there any any?)

You can review Fake Ron’s manifesto here. Rebuttal #1 is by Gamereg; his numbered points correspond to “Ron’s”:

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1. Being generous with your own substance is indeed admirable, being generous with other people’s substance is something else. I’m reminded of an article with the headline “It’s not the government’s job to feed the poor, it’s yours.”
2. Rights are not the same as guarantees or desires. Government cannot take away your life, liberty, or property without due process, but it also cannot provide everything you want. This is NOT an argument for “letting people die if they can’t pay,” but it is an acknowlegment that labor and resources are not free. If you acknowledge the ACA has flaws, what are your plans to fix it?
3. There’s no excuse for students to go into debt with no plan to pay it off. The desire to make education “free” is why it costs so much; the education system treats the government like a bottomless pit of money. Perhaps instead they should compete to provide better eduction for lower prices. And college isn’t the only way to advance intellectually or financially.
4. You missed the first draft of Alexandria Occasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, which promised “Economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work”. This cannot be achieved without taking from those who produce, and giving to those who do not. And how do you decide what the rich’s “share” should be in taxes? Do you know how much the upper classes currently pay?
5. You want to give away your own money, you can always donate to charity. Otherwise see my response to #1.
6. How would you force companies to pay a “decent, livable wage” AND stay in business without eliminating job positions?
7. Good, you’re not anti-Christian. Does that mean you won’t force Christians or anyone else to act against their conscience? Will you allow parents to raise their children as they see fit (aside from obvious abuse or neglect)? Will you allow businesses to choose what services they do and don’t provide? Or churches to preach what they believe? And will you prevent the IRS or other government agencies from putting extra scrutiny on religious or other conservative groups?
8. Good news, LGBTQ people DO have the same rights as the rest of us. Unfortunately forcing people to endorse your lifestyle, or pretend you are the opposite sex of what you were born as, is not a right.
9. Actually, illegal immigrants do abuse programs, when sanctuary cities allow it, and when they steal identities. And are you going to remove illegal hires from the jobs they are stealing? Also, no one says you can’t deport children along with their parents. Or what “humane” ways do you have in mind to deal with people who have no right to be here? If you believe they do have the right to be here because “no human is illegal”, then your first sentence on this point is a lie.
10. So what do you believe government should NOT regulate, aside from abortion? Is there anything your political side wants to regulate but you don’t?
11. What specific actions (not statements, because talk is cheap and easily misnconstrued) has this administration taken which match actions taken by actual fascist regimes? And are you prepared to analyze ways in which your own side has flirted with fascism or some form of totalitarianism? Also be prepared to compare this admin’s actions with actions of past US presidents.
12. Sure I’ll listen, if you are prepared to listen to the ways “marginalized” groups are currently bringing about their own hardships, even if you don’t like what you’re hearing.
13. Sure, enforce the gun laws on the books, but what “new, common sense gun regulations” do you have in mind, and how will they prevent mass shootings or assassinations like what happened to Charlie Kirk? And if you don’t want another opinion, then don’t post this where people can comment.
14. You can encourage politeness, but you can’t force it.
15. I’m not a businessman, but somehow I think telling investors “Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else” is not going to get them excited about your latest green energy venture. Sure, let’s develop sustainable energy sources, but they have to be sustainable economically as well as environmentally. Regarding the latter, even “green energy” sources have environmental trade-offs.
16. The current gender wage gap is not due to unequal pay for the same job, but different pay for different jobs. Unequal outcomes do not always mean unequal opportunity.

So, if you are the Very Model of a Moderate US Liberal, exactly how far are you willing to go to get what you want? if the majority are not on board with all the things you propose (and that seems to be the case right now), what are you going to do about it? Are you going to listen to those who disagree, address their concerns, and deal with the potential flaws in your plans? Or are you just going to write off everyone who disagrees as greedy and bigoted, and wait for them to die while you indoctrinate their children? And if you actually do get everything on your wish list, but the utopia you imagine fails to materialize, then will you: A, Rethink your plans and try a different direction, B, Say this is the best you can do and leave things as they are, or C, double-down on the socialism?