A Non-Liberal’s Defense of Liberalism

On Feb. 7, California Conservative posted the following comment on our article from Dec. 1, about immigration:

Not often do I read news articles that make sense, and avoid propaganda. Great info, fair and accurate. In an honorable society we would get an apology from all the liberals whose ideology has ruined the country via soft on crime to open borders to wokeness to record inflation.

While I don’t identify as a liberal politically and think that there are very good and genuine critiques of liberalism, these are not it. Let’s go point by point to explain why, from crime and immigration to “wokeness” and inflation.

Are liberals causing crime? No. Areas with a Republican-led government have higher crime rates. Not to mention that violent crime is down 50% since the 1970s. And before one complains of the recent crime spike: it’s a product of COVID, increased gun sales and political polarization. 

Immigration? It was far higher during other periods in U.S. history—the current situation is far from an open border. President Eisenhower, a Republican, had a far more lenient border policy: once only detaining a whole four migrants. Yes. Four. Even if liberals are increasing immigration, it’s good. It helps the economy, productivity, innovation, doesn’t decrease wages (possibly even increasing them), and they pay taxes despite not getting resultant benefits. They also are less likely to go to prison than American-born citizens, decreasing crime rates in areas they move to, including violent crime. It’s also pretty much impossible to stop them from coming. Many of the troubles mentioned in Billy’s article about current immigration are also a result of the failure of the federal government to approve work permits for these immigrants. 

Chart on above right: theft rates by immigrant status. “Native” here refers to all citizens born in the United States. 

Wokeness. What does this even mean? It’s a buzzword for anything “too liberal”. Why does this “anything liberal” actually harm Americans? What is “too liberal”?

Inflation? Not the product of “liberalism”. Post-COVID inflation was the result of structural factors like the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supply shocks. How else would the U.S. have slower inflation than peer countries, and the more liberal Canada have slower inflation than us? The inflation hawks were wrong: inflation was ultimately transitory, and the Federal Reserve is looking to cut rates (which would feed inflation) rather than raise them. The current level of 3.1% is more a sign of a strong economy, and is not worrying. Even if one thinks that inflation is a concern, one should blame conservatives, not liberals. Then-President Donald Trump’s tax cuts were a significant contributor to inflation. Inflation is a product of the economy, not the politics of the current president. (Also, it wasn’t “record inflation”. The Consumer Price Index has been significantly higher several times in the past few decades.)

—Illinois Independent