Always Wrong, Never Learning

Looking back in history on major issues confronting our nation I'm struck by how frequently the right wing has been just so colossally wrong and liberal types (not necessarily Democrats, but liberals) have been right.  Let's review some of them.

Many liberals emerged during the activism of the 60's.  They wanted expansion of Social Security and Medicare, programs that have been astoundingly successful.  The programs combined have run a surplus, thereby reducing overall US debt.  And probably nothing else has done more to alleviate elderly poverty and suffering.  Liberals at the time also said that the Vietnam War was a totally travesty.  I think that's pretty transparent at this point, defended only by hard core neocons and the ignorant.

Milton Friedman propounded theories related to privatization, reduced social spending by the government, and deregulated finance.  Richard Nixon was wary of testing these theories in the US, but he was willing to try it in Chile.  So it was in 1973.  Unemployment soared from 3.8% to 25%.  Children were passing out in the classroom for lack of nourishment.  Finally by 1982 the banking system collapsed and required state bail out.  All the rosy predictions Friedman offered, defended by right wing elements, were pretty much wrong.

The expirament failed to help the poor, but did help the rich, so it was expanded to neighboring countries.  Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia.  All with similar results.  Catastrophe for most people, pretty good for the super rich.  The right was wrong again.

Reagan entered office and accelerated the war on unions.  He also cut taxes for the rich.  These supposedly were going to help average Americans.  They didn't.  Wages stagnated for those that aren't super wealthy.

Clinton raised taxes and we were offered dire predictions by the right.  The effect on the economy would be catastrophic, so they claimed.  It wasn't.

Bush reversed Clinton's tax increases and the right expected wonderful things.  The economy collapsed.

The right told us that Saddam Hussein needed to be overthrown violently.  For one reason he was involved in the 9-11 attacks.  He also had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and was aggressively pursuing nuclear weapons.  The war was foisted on the American people on the basis of various errors, including the transparently false claim that Muslim foreigners resist the US violently because they hate our freedom and religion.  A couple of months into the war conservatives concluded it was already over, and the weapons programs would soon be found (the shift from finding weapons to finding weapons "programs" had begun.)

With the track record in mind let's turn to one of the most serious issues facing humanity today; global warming.  The right sometimes will tell us that it really isn't happening.  But if it is it wasn't caused by man.  But if it is, so what?  Don't do anything about it.

Unfortunately there is a large enough segment of the population that does not learn from mistakes.  They do not notice how wrong the right has been in the past and the enormous suffering that has resulted.  Today we are faced with the prospect of further enormous suffering, suffering that has already begun.  The longer people continue to listen to the people that are always wrong and ignore the people that are always right the more suffering will occur.