In his latest Bastiat’s Window post, economist Bob Graboyes ruminates on an exchange he had with a leftist friend who asked about Bob’s “staunch conservative” views.
Graboyes writes,
I reject his categorization—first, because I have no idea how one defines “staunch conservative” in 2024, and, second, because I have never fit any current or prior definition of the term. My friend is smart, well-read, highly accomplished, kind, and thoughtful. I deeply admire the work he has done over the course of his career and his willingness to engage in civil discourse. But he lives in San Francisco, where “staunch conservative” is defined as “anyone who lives in a place that has no need for Snapcrap.”
The post is a good read and makes an important point, namely that even supposedly well-educated leftists usually have only a feeble notion of what people who disagree with them actually believe. They are so immersed in a world of “progressive” cliches about the imaginary evils of freedom under limited government that they think that Donald Trump is the threat to democracy rather than their vast and rapidly growing administrative state.
Too bad that there is no chance of a real debate over the merits of omnipotent government versus a free, truly liberal society this year.