I may make jokes along the way – I kind of need to in order to stay sane – but the stuff I write about is extremely serious; there’s a vast human tragedy taking place, and anyone who has the ear of the public has a duty to make a good-faith effort to get it as right as he can.
Yet all too many players in this game, very much including economists and public officials, very obviously haven’t been making that good faith effort. They’ve seized on dubious arguments, touted obviously weak evidence as definitive, looked for excuses either not to act themselves or for their friends not to act. And invariably the thrust of these bad arguments is to comfort the comfortable and give them license to afflict the afflicted.
Are you listening Paul Ryan?
Love the graphic – it’s perfect. As for the sentiment of his blog, I find that he is giving the perpetrators too much credit. It is not the sin of omission, stupidity, or laziness at work here. The people in charge of the message are far from stupid, they know exactly what they are doing. They know exactly where this austerity and top-heavy distribution is leading us. It is their goal, it has been their goal for decades. They are anticipating the effects of their cruel policies with relish.
I also believe that even these right-wing think tanks are astounded at how easily led their followers are – especially in the shadow of the disaster that Bush left us. Their greatest gift was a black President with an unfortunate name, and they have been able to exploit their follower’s fears and hatred beyond their wildest dreams.
Krugman probably understands this, but to remain a respected journalist with a progressive viewpoint he is hamstrung from pointing out the obvious, lest he receive the moniker of conspiracy theorist or fear-monger – from actual conspiracy theorists and fear-mongers. Projection and double standards are killing the truth.