… today is this tragi-comic spectacle (witness, for instance, Elizabeth Warren’s crackpot scheme to ‘forgive’ most student loans and make college ‘free‘):
Candidate A: “Vote for me, for I will give you lots of stuff paid for by other people!”
Candidate B: “Vote for me, for I will give you even more stuff paid for by other people!”
Candidate C: “Vote for me, for I will give you yet even more stuff, paid for by other people, than is promised to you by my unimaginative opponents!”
Candidate A: “Nonsense! Vote for me, for here is even more of what I will give to you paid for fully by others!”
Candidate B: “Paltry! Vote for me and I will give to you twice the amount of free stuff promised by my opponents, and paid for – of course! – only by other people!”
Candidate C: “Bush league! Vote for me and I will give to you triple – nay, quadruple! – no, quintuple!! – the amount of stuff promised by my opponents – all of course paid for fully by other people!”
So it goes.
And the media, the punditry, and the professoriate embarrassingly treat these power-mad charlatans as if they are worthy not only of respect but also of admiration.
