morality of a liberal

Note: This is the second of four posts about my exchange with Justin.
Also see Part 1, Part 3 and Part 4.

I showed our uber-liberal friend, Justin, the video of Robert Reich implying that liberals lie because their voters are too ignorant to handle the truth about healthcare, culminating in Reich's message to seniors: "We're going to let you die." 

In an email exchange, I asked Justin, "Do you agree that the electorate is too ignorant to be told of such a scheme?  Or do you believe the current reform proposals will actually result in better, cheaper care for all, delivered more efficiently?  I guess what I'm wondering is whether you consider yourself a liberal 'insider' who's not too ignorant for the truth, or whether you take such policies at face value."

Justin replied:

I very much do consider myself an insider who is not too ignorant for the truth.  There's a discounting effect to my claiming that about myself, but no one else is really here to write it for me so you'll have to do me the favor of taking what I say about myself at face value and try to ignore the part where it sounds like I'm blowing my own horn.  I have taken a college-level interest in politics and political philosophy and I have worked in the political field.  I am also among the elite as far as measurable intelligence goes.  I very firmly believe that these characteristics allow me to have a superior -- not just different-but-equal but in fact fuller and more functional -- understanding of many topics, not least of all politics, compared to the vast majority...

I want to be clear that Justin does not claim to be someone who should be making decisions over your life, though it's implied that he does think his vote, for example, should be worth more than yours, and that he is better qualified to pick the leaders who should be making decisions over your life.  (There was not much discussion about what sort of plans such men might have for him.)  I guess you could say Justin's an elitist, but he doesn't consider himself as "elite" as the people he feels entitled to choose to govern you.  How comforting.

Justin continued:

If we did have an "enlightened electorate" which is of course a fevered dream, Then Reich is right on about what we would have to tell them.  The sad fact is that instead, people hear "letting you die" and they don't understand that spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on medical care for an 86 year old cancer patient is not a viable option for us to make, and that it has drastic effects of dragging down the entire nation -- this is where intelligence and education comes in.  That money has to COME from somewhere.  Usually it's from insurance companies.  The insurance companies don't have magic money factories, so they have to charge people higher rates to pay for all of this wasted care.  Those effects continue to echo throughout our entire society causing loss of employment, economic retardation, reduced funding for education, higher crime rates -- the waste of money being poured into end of life care has a significant effect on all of those things...

Now, there are two things I need you to understand about this assessment.  First, it's accurate.  But more importantly, it turns out the problem's not so terribly complicated after all.  I'm sure you understood it perfectly.  Heck, I talk about stuff like this all the time.  This problem is not too complicated for the electorate, and the right has accurately been describing both the problem -- and the liberals' solution (death panels, anyone?) -- to the electorate all along.

Which brings us to what's so "unenlightened" about the electorate that makes being truthful about their solutions so problematic for liberal elites.  When we look at healthcare, there's no particular brilliance in "letting grandma die."  Even though Justin says "this is where intelligence and education comes in," the elite are not elite because they are smarter than everyone else.  What makes them elite is that they are not encumbered by the same morality.  They're too smart to care about mere individuals.  Liberal elites, like all leftists, place no value on the individual, and thus they are happy to let the individual die for the collective.  After all, they have a whole world to run.

Is that wrong?  Well, obviously not to an elite.  But, the good news is that it's still wrong to most Americans -- and even better, that includes a bunch of so-called liberals who are only onboard with the Dems' healthcare plans because they believe the lies.

Which reminds me of something else Justin said:

Where you say "lying," I see "guidance;" and where you say "stealing," I see "productive redistribution."

The truth really shall set you free.

Comments

[James Blanchard]

Wow. This is impressive in all the wrong ways. About myself: I have a degree in Psychology. My intelligence is greater than 98% of the world's population. I'd call myself a peer of Justin based on his measures of elite.

If Justin were 86 with cancer, he'd want hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on his survival. If he says it's not so, he's either lying or suicidal.

No, insurance companies don't have magic money factories. Neither do doctors have magic money eradicators. The money goes somewhere! There is no causal relationship between medical treatment and loss of employment, economic retardation (what is that anyway?), reduced funding for education and higher crime rates.

From a strictly financial point of view the 86 year old is a bad investment. Humanity cannot be measured in terms of dollars and cents or it ceases being humanity and becomes a commodity. Will that 86 year old succeed at something where others fail? We cannot predict the value of any amount of time in a life. I know people whose whole life was a bad investment, in terms of financial return. This does not make them worthless!

Compassion does not have a price tag. Life has meaning beyond dollars and cents. We have a phrase for people who cannot view others as more than the benefits they can bring: Anti-Social Personality Disorder. They will spend lives for their own gain. No life is worth more than their wants. They lack the ability to have compassion or empathy. They are scary people. The government reflects their values.

[Otto Maddox]

"... it's implied that he does think his vote, for example, should be worth more than yours, and that he is better qualified to pick the leaders who should be making decisions over your life."

He's just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill totalitarian.

[hiscross]

The Leader I picked long ago is Jesus. You see I don't believe for a New York second that man (man and woman are the same here) can ever straighten things out. They sure have tried, but just look at history and today and tell me if things have worked out. I do believe Jesus sees good in all of us. The problem seems to be we as humans don't want His calling or just don't like what He has in store for us. That is our problem, not His. Now I also believe Jesus wants us to produce what is good. That means stop talking and get to work. Even John Galt didn't do much talking, but he sure did plenty of doing.

[Mitch Baker]

John Galt did talk a lot. "Atlas Shrugged" is a great book, and I'm glad I read it, but, man, that speech went on forever. I get it - A is A.

[SKB]

If a life has a value greater than the cost of the treatment needed to sustain it, then said life can spend his or her dollars on prolonging their existence. If such value is quantifiable and justifiable, then surely he or she would quickly attract those that would want to extend such a life and enjoy a profit from doing so.
Otherwise, do not dare dig into my pockets to prolong your life. Be useful: spend your last days digging instead your own grave.
To those that cannot find so much as a shred of morality in my words: you are my enemy. You have no concept of what is moral and what is not. Your ilk is the scourge of freemen. I await the day freemen are the scourge of you.

[Donna Fitzgerald]

That speech in "Atlas Shrugged" was indeed very long.

I prefer the child's version. All the Thomas the Tank Engine stories focus on how happy and healthy the engines are when they are Really Useful Engines.

That should be our goal our entire lives: to be Really Useful People.

[Ben]

"If a life has a value greater than the cost of the treatment needed to sustain it, then said life can spend his or her dollars on prolonging their existence. If such value is quantifiable and justifiable, then surely he or she would quickly attract those that would want to extend such a life and enjoy a profit from doing so.
Otherwise, do not dare dig into my pockets to prolong your life. Be useful: spend your last days digging instead your own grave.
To those that cannot find so much as a shred of morality in my words: you are my enemy. You have no concept of what is moral and what is not. Your ilk is the scourge of freemen. I await the day freemen are the scourge of you."

Thank you SKB, I agree that this accurately reflects the Morality of Selfishness.