Elizabeth Warren’s Candidacy

Democrats love government; Republicans hate it. Of course that’s a big oversimplification. But in this respect Elizabeth Warren is the quintessential Democrat.

I was long a Republican, with a libertarian/conservative perspective. Not hating government, but seeing unconstrained government power as a problem. Warren doesn’t share that viewpoint.

The word “socialist” is thrown around a lot by people who don’t actually know what it means. It’s not “social welfare” or government regulating the private sector; it’s government replacing it.

Warren says she’s no socialist, and seems to mean it, actually having good things to say about the role of the private sector in creating economic dynamism. At least in concept. However, she does propose what amounts to socialism for one major economic sector: health care, prohibiting private insurance.

There’s much to hate about private health insurers. Typically in free market capitalism, a company makes money by making customers happy. But health insurers perversely make money by limiting what customers get. Nevertheless, it remains a principle of a free society for people to choose for themselves, and many Americans seem satisfied with their health insurance arrangements.

Taking that freedom away, with a government-only system, is not only wrong but unnecessary. Let Democrats instead create a government option as an alternative. If, as they believe, it’s so much better, it will outcompete private insurers and put them out of business that way. Warren’s refusal to accept that logic is politically stupid. Pointlessly so, because her plan can’t be enacted.

She targets inequality, her centerpiece proposal being a wealth tax (also impossible to enact). This reflects the standard left wing mindset of seeing the problem as what the rich have, as if it’s gotten at the expense of the rest (a basic fallacy). Thus their approach of beating down the rich rather than finding ways to uplift the others.

Actually, Warren does have some proposals in the latter vein, and some are actually reasonable. And I actually agree that richer people like me should pay more tax, especially after Trump’s disgraceful tax giveaways. But a wealth tax is a terrible idea, as several countries trying it have found out. Will an army of federal assessors be sent out to evaluate the worth of all rich folks’ assets — all the mansions, yachts, art collections? Which would invite stratagems to hide wealth and otherwise avoid the tax.

Far better to resuscitate the moribund estate tax. That makes much economic and social sense, and the counter-arguments are bogus. But the estate tax has gotten politically toxic. Though I cannot fathom how a wealth tax sounds better.

More broadly, a cause of inequality is corporate power, which Warren seeks to curb. And I find much to agree with here, free market champion though I am.

“Free market” really means free, with open competition. With that, consumers capture the lion’s share of wealth creation. But too many big corporations use their power to squelch competition, especially by enlisting government in that effort. It’s one of the reasons I’m leery of government in general. Warren does have some plans, like stronger antitrust enforcement, breaking up “crony capitalism,” that I endorse; yet her idealization of government seems oblivious to how it’s in the very nature of big government to be captured and suborned by powerful businesses in the ways she herself decries.

And when it comes to coddling businesses, Warren herself does exactly that with her protectionist stance toward trade. Historically, Democrats were the party of free trade, understanding how that benefits consumers and the country as a whole, whereas Republicans were the protectors of businesses. But somewhere the left lost its way on this issue — while Republicans saw the light — until Trump came along and blinded them. Warren would not roll back his insane trade policies, that so harm the global economy and our own.

But most fundamentally, I don’t like the tenor of her campaign. The us-against-them stridency. That if you’re not on board with her program, totally, you stand for nothing, you’re weak, part of the problem, even morally deficient. It’s just this sort of scorched-earth partisan bloody-mindedness that’s tearing the country apart. Warren’s favorite word is “fight.” I think America’s had enough fighting; let’s have some peace.

I have endorsed Joe Biden, whose moderation and centrist reasonableness are far more in line with what we so desperately need. And, notwithstanding all the whining about Biden’s supposed electoral weaknesses, I continue to see him as the best candidate to beat Trump. (That’s why Trump viciously targets him.) National polls show Biden beating Trump soundly; with Warren it’s a toss-up. Her high-octane ideological shrillness (not to mention, alas, her gender) turns off a lot of voters. Whereas Biden is seen as a calm safe pair of hands, an antidote to the sturm und drang of Trump’s presidency.

Pete Buttigieg scores even higher on centrist reasonableness. He’s actually by far the best of all the candidates. His being gay would repel some voters, but I think most would be able to get past that when they see his admirable qualities. I believe he too would do better against Trump than Warren. And if Buttigieg did manage to rise to the top and get the nomination, it would be America at its best. Gosh how I miss that America.

And if it’s Warren nominated? What’s at stake in this election far transcends matters of ideology or policy. America’s soul will be dead if — after every monstrous vile thing he’s done — Trump is re-elected. It would repudiate every good principle this country used to embody. Warren understands those principles, and is everything Trump is not: honest, well-informed, competent, responsible, a decent and sane human being. For all I’ve said against her, we’d be far better off with her than Trump.* Another four years of him would be the end of America.

An imperfect world presents imperfect choices. If it’s Trump versus Warren, I will support her more strongly than I’ve ever supported any cause in my life.

* And if Republicans’ Trumpmania winds up resulting in their worst nightmare of a left-wing president, it will be poetic justice.