How Liberalism Works (Or Rather Doesn't)

Peter B points to a perfect example of modern government. Indeed, it is a perfect microcosm of how the Left works. They conjure up abstract rights out of thin air - without regard for such trivia as common sense, practicality and the like - then assert that everyone else has to find a way to accommodate their posturing.

In some cases, this sort of thing is just stupid, but when it comes to healthcare it can be deadly. Take one of the cases quoted:

In 2001, a 36-year-old man with learning disabilities died of organ failure two weeks after being discharged into the care of his wife from Darlington Memorial Hospital in Co Durham. John Atkins had a heart condition but neither he nor his wife, Helen, who also had learning disabilities, had understood how serious it was.

Well, yeah. I mean, how can one put this ? Not to get too technical, but they were 'tards. Literally. Of course, they couldn't deal. That's their disability right there. But no - we're in a whole new world now, and the village idiot has a right to use the threshing machine. And if it all goes horribly wrong ? Why, blame some other guy for not rescuing the situation you yourself created by insisting that people should be given rights even when they can't possibly handle the associated responsibilities.

But even that's not it. If Liberals had proposed policies such as deinstitutionalisation on the grounds of cost savings or the like, then it would at least be possible to argue that it was a trade--off. After all, the 1980s Conservatives bought into the whole concept for precisley this reason. What makes all this the perfect metaphor for Liberalism is their moral posturing. True, their policies may have lead to misery for both the afflicted and the community that has to live with them, combined with scapegoating of the professionals every time they fail to square the circle, but that won't stop the L3 paying tribute to their own heroism in pushing through bold new policies that stand at 180' to all previous tradition, good practice and common sense.

In Liberaland, being radical always beats being effective.