Why Leftist Socialist Democrats HAVE to Be Hypocrites

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was accused of hypocrisy Wednesday by WRKO radio host Jeff Kuhner for reliably railing against the one percent despite being worth millions of dollars.

Warren, who was at the WRKO studio in Boston for an interview, met Kuhner in the hallway and the situation escalated as Kuhner asked why Warren has built her career haranguing the one percent when she herself is a member of that class.

Warren defended herself, citing humble beginnings as the daughter of a janitor who was able to advance to her current position due purely to the “equality of opportunity” provided by government programs.

Warren has made hundreds of thousands working as a consultant for insurance companies and big banks. Travelers insurance paid Warren $212,000 between 2008 and 2010 for consulting work. Warren, who claims responsibility for creating “the intellectual foundation” for the occupy movement, has also done consulting work for Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale, a law firm that represents Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.

 

Here’s the problem with socialism. Its proponents attack people for doing well. They assume that because person “A” has more money than person “B”, it’s wrong and unjust. Socialism ignores cause-and-effect. It asserts that disparities in income could ONLY happen because of racial, sexual, homophobic or some other kind of injustice. Whatever the cause of income inequality, it certainly could NEVER have anything to do with skill, talent or competence. To even imply otherwise sends advocates of socialism into howls of outrage.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is a particularly unflinching proponent of socialism in the U.S. Congress and today’s Democratic Party. She’s the darling of that party’s far left, all that now remains of that party.

But to be a truly consistent and “honest” socialist, you’d have to do the opposite of what Elizabeth Warren does. You would have to eschew making that $212,000 between 2008 and 2010 for consulting work. Or, if you did so, then you would give virtually all of it away, keeping only what you need for the most minimal food and shelter. You are never going to see a career member of Congress doing that, not ever, even if it’s the unflinchingly socialist Elizabeth Warren.

In psychological terms, socialism reflects an attitude not just of control, but of moral puritanism. Instead of manifesting as puritanism in the bedroom, it manifests as puritanism in the economy. But puritanism is puritanism! Elizabeth Warren, just like any other puritan, righteously and scornfully condemns all things material and profitable, in her prim and proper schoolmarm manner. She’s prepared to use the force of government to back her up, too; it’s not just preaching, it’s hard core force.

The absurdity of people like Elizabeth Warren is that they expect all of us to make sacrifices. Yet in their own lives, they don’t sacrifice. Unlike the people who honestly make their money or create their wealth, people like Warren make their money off the coercion and manipulation of government programs. Yes, it’s hypocrisy. But we have to probe deeper and understand why socialists like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are always hypocrites. What is it about socialism that makes hypocrisy widespread and inevitable?

The answer is the moral puritanism contained in socialism. In short, if you tell people that it’s wrong to succeed and to profit from their success, you’re telling them two things: One, there’s no justice, since keeping what you earn is neither a moral nor a political right; and two, life on earth is not something to celebrate or enjoy, because if you have “too much” money by some arbitrarily mandated external government standard…why, that’s just not proper.

People who are profoundly unjust and wrong are, by definition, always hypocrites. Because what they preach is wrong, and impossible to practice, they’re left holding the bag when confronted with their contradiction. Elizabeth Warren is neither special nor new. She’s just the current example of a timeless principle: You can’t cheat reality.

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