A flicker of understanding

Ezra Klein pokes holes in one of the Greens' favorite ideas. Of course, to environmentalists, the poor are a big part of the problem. All those illegal aliens pouring through our borders are harming the environment. Real liberals, however, worry about eliminatig poverty and not just by starving the poor.

I find this efflorescence of rationality quite refreshing. Maybe there's hope for some of them yet. With a little more of the same, they may recognize that conservatives aren't the barbarians they assume, but have actually confronted these issues and realized that prosperity can't just be handed out by the government. That is like those pumps in New Orleans which had to be shut down when the operators realized that they were pumping the same water into the canals that were flooding the city through broken flood walls a block or two away. Getting bigger pumps doesn't solve the real problem.

The Incas had the right solution, they kept everybody working, building public works, canals, roads, bridges, temples, and so on. Until we understand that nexus, we'll just be pumping flood water into the broken canal.