You’ll forgive me for not recapping the usual disclaimer about how I don’t really know wtf I’m talking about, since clearly it hasn’t stopped me and won’t stop me. So, that said, this article by Megan McArdle is the best thing I’ve read on how to think about the stimulus package.
This is a nice moment to take a step back and ask yourself a question. You probably have some feelings on the stimulus proposal, either for or against. My question isn’t what your opinion is. My question is why you hold it. Can you really lay out an explicable, logical case, that would withstand an argument from somebody who wasn’t brain dead? Perhaps you can. If so, that puts you in front of most of the fucktards I’ve heard, both at work and on TV.
For instance: “I don’t believe in big government!!@1″ is a likely answer. It’s certainly one I’ve heard. But what do you say when someone asks: “Why?” More to the point, what do you say when someone asks “Why?” to the answer you gave to their first “Why?”?
The main problem with people is that they can provide decent answers to far too few “Why?”s. Most people, frankly, can answer 0 Why?s. Some can answer 1. Rarely can anyone answer more than that, in my experience, but again, maybe you know smarter and more thoughtful people than I do. Although be careful that they’re smart and thoughtful, and not just vomiting up the same idiot half-gibberish talking points they heard on talk radio somewhere.
It’s hard to be able to field very many Why?s. Damn hard.