It Cannot Be That...

The thing to remember about, e.g., systemic racism, is that it issues from a saving faith in our liberal friends that all the gubmint programs they have advocated in the last century are the best possible programs which will result in the best and most equal and equitable society ever.

It cannot be -- it cannot be -- that all the programs and all the politics have actually Made Things Worse. And it cannot be that the Democrats' current agenda, fighting climate change and systemic racism is going to Make Things Even Worse.

Situation One: Your liberal friend plays the Race Card.

We can see this with the the notion that GOP Lt. Gov. elect Winsome Sears is a "black mouth" for "white supremacist practices." Of course. Because it cannot be -- it cannot be -- that liberal race politics amounts to vile racism, straight up, and liberal race politics Makes Things Worse, worse for blacks, who are coddled as Little Darlings of the ruling class instead of being encouraged to make their way into the mainstream of ordinary American Yeomen and Commoners.

But what do you do when someone accuses you of being a racist? Obviously there are four responses:

The Nice Liberal Lady response: I can't believe you said that. After all, the Civil Rights Act was passed half a century ago. And if there is any racial disparity left the clearly it is the fault of civil-rights administrators, directors of diversity equality and inclusion who are just not up to the mark when it comes to eliminating systemic racism. What do you recommend, in the face of this failure?

The medium response: You know, Bob, I didn't think you were that sort of a guy. I'm disappointed in you.

The Sophisticated Intellectual Response: Gosh, Travis, I didn't think you were that sort of a guy. After all, as Hegel says, the Thing is the Same as its Opposite, so really, an Anti-Racist is the same as a Racist, a rather nasty piece of work that is all obsessed with race.

The Culture of Insult response: Hey, pal. You know what kind of a guy plays the race card like that? Yeah, you guessed right: only a complete A**hole. Welcome to the club.

Situation Two: Your liberal friend complains about the white working class, as a Trump voter, or a Let's Go Brandon chanter, or as uneducated, or a deplorable, or a bitter clinger.

But what do you do when someone sneers at the white working class?

The Nice Liberal Lady response: I can't believe you said that. Especially as the experts agree that the white working class has been dying of despair ever since the government offshored its well-paid union jobs in the Seventies and instituted racial quotas for police and firemen jobs. I'm really surprised you would say that.

The medium response: Oh come on, Bob. Hey I remember a time when good liberals like you loooved the white working class. What happened to that Bob?

The Sophisticated Intellectual Response: Gosh, Travis, I didn't think you had bought into the Narrative like that. Come on now. What do you expect people to do when the plant closes and the jobs that sustained families for generations just go pouf! And it's not as if this is the first time. What about the Long Depression of the 1870s, when the crash of 1873 put millions out of work, and put millions of farmers on the Great Plains underwater on their mortgages. And whatbout the Great Depression, when even the Great FDR could do nothing for the Forgotten Man until he started cranking the economy up for World War II. I could go on, Travis, but I think an educated man like you would get it.

The Culture of Insult response: Hey, pal. You know what kind of a guy dumps on the working class like that. Yeah, you got it. Only a guy that Literally Knows Nothing. You and all the twentysomething journalism grads.

Situation Three: Your liberal friend is all-in on masks, and mandatory vaccination, and vaccination passports.

What do you do when someone sneers at the anti-vaxxers?

The Nice Liberal Lady response. Evelyn. You know I can't believe you said that. For people like us, the COVID crisis has almost been like a vacation: working from home, Zooming meetings. But think about being an essential worker, where you are much more at risk from infection. Or a worker in the hospitality industry, where you you have been out of a job for months and months and never know next what the regulations will be. I really feel for people like that. And you can't really expect them to understand the science like people like us. Uneduacted people have always wondered about the rulers, and whether they really have the interests of ordinary people at heart. And then, of course many of the people not getting vaxxed are Black and minorities. And who can blame them after the Blacks that were misled in the Tuskegee syphilis study back in the day and were left untreated.

The medium response. Oh come on, Bob. I remember when your Irene was all worked up about the measles vaccine. How come you guys are both completely down for this one?

The Sophisticated Intellectual Response. Yes, Travis, you've got a point there. The ignorance of the ordinary American voter is a national scandal. But then, you have to give them a bit of slack. After all, spokesmen like Dr. Fauci haven't exactly been founts of wisdom and consistency. The story keeps changing, and you know, from your understanding of persuasion techniques, that consistency and track record are important in securing and maintaining trust. I wonder if we can't do better with the messaging on this. Of course, first there was Trump, and who could trust him? But I'd say that President Biden isn't exactly Snow White either.

The Culture of Insult response: Hey, pal. How in the heck can you expect ordinary Americans to trust you guys when you keep changing the rules? And the rules always seem to benefit wokey guys like you?

Situation Four: Your liberal friend doesn't think that schools are teaching Critical Race Theory.

What do you do about someone that calls parents protesting at their local school board "violent extremists."

The Nice Liberal Lady response. Joan, I can't believe you said that. I talked to my friend Sharon yesterday and she told me about what she had been watching her kids' Zoom classes. Of course, racism and sexism is a real problem, but I really wonder about this 1619 Project. Even The New York Times has revised its take on the idea of the founding of the United States as a slave society. 

The medium response: Oh come on, Bob. First we are told that BLM and AntiFa are nothing but mostly peaceful protesters when they burn down business in Minneapolis and attack the federal court-house in Portland, Oregon. And then we are supposed to believe that a plumber that gets a bit excited about his daughter being assaulted in the school restroom is a violent extremist? I thought you were better than that, Bob,

The Sophisticated Intellectual Response: Yes, I agree, Selwyn. Those parents really don't know much. And there is no question that the problem of Black underperformance in our nation's schools is a real problem and needs to be tackled with a sophisticated and multi-pronged approach. But I really think that we need to keep the activists and the crazy lefties on a fairly short rein. They do tend to get a bit over-enthusiastic about things. I mean. Let's not pretend that we can explain everything in society through the lens of racism. We are better than that.

Culture of Insult response. Hey, pal. I'd like to know how you'd react if they sent a bunch of right-wing crazies and KKK hoodies into your kids' school and started selling them on QAnon conspiracy theories. You'd wouldn't like it, would you.

Situation Five: Your liberal friend supports the Democratic spending agenda for a radical expansion of the entitlement state and fighting climate change.

What do you do with someone that's all in on the Progressive Agenda of Build Back Better?

The Nice Liberal Lady response: I can't believe you said that. I talked to Sophie and she said that her financial advisor said that the additional spending will cause serious inflation that will affect her financial wellbeing negatively and perhaps seriously delay retirement for many people without a guaranteed pension. And, of course, minorities and women will be hardest hit by the inflation.

The medium response: Of course, everyone knows that we need to make college more affordable and prepare for the energy transition. But it seems to me that this is going to benefit special interests and benefit big universities without really helping ordinary people. And meanwhile, how are people going to make ends meet if gasoline and gas for heating goes up 50 or 100 percent?

The Sophisticated Intellectual Response: Here's the problem, Jonathan. It's all very well to get tackle climate change. But should we really be making a one-way bet when the climate models really are not tracking with the change in global temperatures? Yes, electric cars are probably a good thing, but should we really be subsidizing a guy like Elon Musk and buying all the rare-earth metals from China, given the environmental impacts from the mining and the pollution that is already seriously impacting rural life in the areas impacted by rare-earth mining? Now, of course we should make college for affordable and institute parental leave and pre-K. But is this the way to do it, by ramming through a multi-trillion dollar package in a 50-50 Congress? Moderate Democrats like Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, a generation ago, that when you want to pass big programs you need to pass them 70-30 in the Senate, so that there is a general consensus behind the reform. Does it really help matters to push these partisan measures that do not have bipartisan support?

Culture of Insult response: Hey pal. You really think that ramming a controversial bill pushed by crazies like Jayapal and the Squad is going to work? If you do, I gotta bridge to sell you.

I could go on. But you get the point.

And we deplorables all need to be better at communication. And effective communication depends on knowing who you are talking to and adjusting your message so that they will listen, and maybe even accept your message.