Do you ever feel like a chump, like this dad?
Last January, a small but telling exchange took place at an Elizabeth Warren campaign event in Grimes, Iowa. At the time, Warren was attracting support from the Democratic Party’s left flank, with her bulging portfolio of progressive proposals. “Warren Has a Plan for That” read her campaign T-shirts. The biggest buzz surrounded her $1.25 trillion plan to pay off student-loan debt for most Americans.
A man approached Warren with a question. “My daughter is getting out of school. I’ve saved all my money [so that] she doesn’t have any student loans. Am I going to get my money back?”
“Of course not,” Warren replied.
“So you’re going to pay for people who didn’t save any money, and those of us who did the right thing get screwed?”
A video of the exchange went viral. It summed up the frustration many feel over the way progressive policies so often benefit select groups, while subtly undermining others. Saving money to send your children to college used to be considered a hallmark of middle-class responsibility. By subsidizing people who run up large debts, Warren’s policy would penalize those who took that responsibility seriously. “You’re laughing at me,” the man said, when Warren seemed to wave off his concerns. “That’s exactly what you’re doing. We did the right thing and we get screwed.”
Today governors throughout the country are treating their citizens like chumps, preventing them from going to work or opening their shops while they - and their fellow government employees get paid. Some, like Gavin Newsom of California, tell people they can't go to restaurants while dining with a large group of lobbyists as the fabulously expensive French Laundry.
They consider themselves the natural aristocracy, our Ruling Class. We have the most corrupt and worst ruling class in living memory.
At some point, the "chumps" decide that they are fools for following the rules and revolt. From time to time those revolts end up with blood in the streets. Thomas Jefferson once said that "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." He believed that rebellion every twenty years was good for us. I agree.
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