White Devil Red Angel - Comments from inside the belly of the Dragon.

U.S. Government March 02, 2008 04:52 AM Missouri Time

From my favorite reviewer Wan Lixin (Democracies and ignorant voters make for bad policies)

By Wan Lixin, Shanghai Daily

BRYAN Caplan's "The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies" debunks the myth of Western democracy as an ideal by marshaling a litany of complaints.

The central indictment is predicated on The shocking ignorance of the general American voters., especially in economic matters.

You will notice throughout this piece that no references are ever given except of the book being reviewed.  This is a favorite tactic of Mr. Wan LiXin and his ilk.  Also notice that they only review books critical of the U.S. and western culture.  Never have I read one of his reviews that defends the U.S.  Even books where the U.S. is attacked the reviewer insist the attacks are not enough and more should be said or done.  Ok, here we go with some excerpts.


For instance, fewer than 40 percent of United States voters can name both their senators. Fewer still know their senators' party affiliations.

I wonder how many Chinese know the names of their elected representatives to the Chinese Communist party. Oh thats right 0% since no one is elected in China. I asked my students if they could name the government official just below the top tier. No one could. Again notice. No reference to where this data comes from. I am sure it is in the book but I guess its not needed here. Perhaps it was from one of the Jay Leno bits about stupid people.

During the 1992 campaign for the US presidency, for instance, while fewer than 20 percent of voters knew Bill Clinton's environmental record, almost 90 percent knew that Dan Quayle, the vice presidential candidate who couldn't spell "potato," had criticized a television character over the "immorality" of being a single mother.

And? Perhaps they just didn't care about his environmental record. I didn't, I don't and I will not ever care about the presidents environmental record.

Poor Dan, he cant even catch a break in China. I guess making a point of the downward spiral of our morals by using the glorified character (oh crap, I dont even remember the name of that horrible show.) from a T.V. show that many children watched is over the head of communist everywhere. It was over the head of the communist in the U.S. and it seems their brothers in China can do no better.

The voters were also guilty of ignorance concerning a number of economic problems. For instance, they blame "foreign devils," high taxes, women and minorities for a misfiring economy, contrary to the consensus reached by established economists.

"foreign devils" Wow, thats me your good ole White Devil. Thanks for giving me the shout out bud. Actually, I find it interesting that he uses their racist word for us to show how ignorant we are.
But shall we break this down. What could possible cause economic problems.
1. Foreign Devils. Unfair trade? Unbalanced trade? Cheap slave labor? Hording U.S. Dollars and not letting your own money leave the country? hmm. I do believe this is right. Foreign Devils are part of the problem. However I am a domestic devil so I will excuse myself.

2. High Taxes. Yep, high taxes have never caused any economic problems in the U.S. oh wait. Bush 1, Clinton, Carter, Etc. So 2 for 2. Devils and taxes.

3. Women and Minorities. At first not sure what he is talking about here but after thinking about he he must be talking about social welfare programs. You know that part of the economy where we take the "high taxes" from the rich people who produce capital and jobs and give it to those people who refuse to do anything and produce nothing for our economy. So throwing money and resources away with no possibility of it helping the economy couldnt possible damage the economy.

I guess their solution is to let all countries have fee and open trade with the U.S. with no penalty for unfair trade. Raise taxes even higher. Increase social welfare programs. In a nutshell they think we should be France.

Please go read the entire thing.

Posted by: White Devil at 04:52 AM

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