Wealth Redistribution: Based on the myth that too much wealth has accumulated in the wrong hands.  No attention is ever paid to the creation of new wealth (AKA making the pie bigger — not just cutting it into more pieces).  Moving other people's money around for the sake of buying the votes of the less affluent just encourages the creators of wealth to hide more of it, or to just stop trying.

Racism: A cynical political ploy used to herd the masses into useful tribal identities (can you say "divide and conquer"?)  As a young anthropology student, I was taught that races among humans are a fraud.  Early travelers, such as Marco Polo, anecdotally described three races — defined by skin color.  Only an extremely small portion of human DNA determines complexion.  Much, much more is involved in the production of digestive enzymes.  What are called "races" are nothing more than historically isolated gene pools.  Modern advancements in transportation are naturally blurring these distinctions.

Recycling: Based on the myth that throwing stuff away is harmful to the earth.  Archaeologists literally frolic over the excavation of ancient dump sites.  Meanwhile, giant trucks are crowding onto our roads so they can transport practically useless junk from here to there and back again.  Other forms of energy are also wasted in order to sort this junk, thus preserving the illusion of false efficiency.  Glass, for example, cannot be remade into bottles or windows; rather, it is crushed and used as a substitute for much cheaper gravel in concrete and asphalt.  Back in the day, beer and soda came in deposit bottles that had to be returned to the store, where they were picked up by the beverage company, washed out, and then refilled.  Now, that's recycling.  But the retailers put a stop to that.  Since the Chinese have stopped accepting used plastic, it's being shipped instead to Malaysia.  Aluminum cans actually have value — not in the aluminum itself, but in the electricity needed to refine aluminum from its natural ore.  

Public Education: Perhaps the greatest casualty of the COVID pandemic.  Formerly wishy-washy parents are now fuming mad at their local school districts.  Throw in Critical Race Theory and other forms of indoctrination, and you've got a particularly toxic brew.  There's never been a case made for the superior ability of government to provide education other than its power to collect taxes — hence the adoption of vouchers as a reasonable compromise.  The key ingredient in school choice is competition for the attraction of both students and faculty, leading to sustainably better results.

Health Care Being a Right: Rather, health care is a service — a particularly expensive service, because it is both labor- and capital-intensive.  Much like education, the only advantage government has in running health care is its power to tax, and it would further the bureaucratic muddle that is already reducing efficiency and effectiveness.  Lurking behind all of this is the confusion between health care and actual health.  People want to be healthy, however that happens.  Health care can help, but not always.  Involved in this is patient modality — following the doctor's instructions and recommendations.  "You know, a guy told me that these blood pressure pills will make me impotent.  And besides, I sure don't feel like I've got high blood pressure."  And, in the immortal words of P.J. O'Rourke: "If you think health care is expensive now, just wait until it's free."

Electric Automobiles: The left has always had a grudge against automotive exhaust — originally because of local toxicity, but that was negated by the catalytic converter.  Now we have (ahem) climate change — the catch being that electric cars don't make electricity; they just consume it.  Sixty percent of electricity comes from fossil fuel combustion and another 20% from the dreaded nuclear.  The remainder comes from "renewable" sources, about a third of which are dams built on previously wild and free rivers.  So why the intense allure of electric vehicles?  Primarily, the answer is found in willful ignorance of what was just stated above.  Secondarily, electric motors have terrific torque — and can deliver an acceleration thrill that is much harder to get from internal combustion.  Just sayin'.

Image via Public Domain Pictures.

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