UNICORNS AND MAGIC PUPPIES ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE BARRICADES

There is nothing quite like the excitement of a revolution.

Revolutions are virtually always, first and foremost, about the resolution of grievances and the settling of scores. They are typically turbo-charged efforts fueled by anger long-suppressed, resentments old and new and represent the collective effort of those who feel oppressed to overthrow their oppressors or those who feel powerless to take power that they believe rightly belongs to them.

By nature, then, revolutions are exhilarating. The thrilling vision of a new future generates a movement whose momentum propels one forward toward that new horizon at what seems light speed. The power it can exert over the imagination and will of a collective is magnetic, irresistibly attracting and drawing millions to it.

But it is in that excitement and exhilaration that one of the real dangers of a political revolution such as that proclaimed by Bernie Sanders resides.

Caught up in a revolutionary moment wherein there is a vision of fortunes and fates being reversed, mountains being brought low and valleys being raised up, those who are part of the pitchfork parade are understandably far more available to no-questions-asked, non-critical enthusiasm than the tedium of analytical, critical review of policy issues.

Hence, metrics/data are of little interest to the revolutionary who is "feeling it." Which is why it is a waste of time to try and convince a Kansas Tea Partier that doubling-down on the Laffer/Brownback economic plan might not be a good idea---their eyes on the prize, they couldn’t care less about the numbers.

It is also why I no longer bother playing devil's advocate with folks who are "feeling the Bern." Caught up in the drama and thrill of what they interpret as revolutionary fervor, many of them simply aren't interested in issue-oriented deep dives and are almost dismissive when asked about policy details.

That isn't hard to understand when one considers that the guy who lit their fire seems equally disinterested and dismissive of metrics/data. Not now and not since his primary run began has the grumpy senator from Vermont engaged policy issues and/or metrics at any depth, which should have troubled us then and should be troubling us now. The joke is that, if you ask Bernie how he will fund free college education for all, he will answer by saying, "We've got to break up the Big Banks."

Disinterest in "the details," after all, is as endemic to revolutionaries as it is to reactionaries. Both are more visceral, reflexive and defined by their passion than thoughtful, reflective and defined by their ability to maintain a critical distance between themselves and the object of their affections---be it a person or an ideal.

Thus the disdain of Bernie's Bro's for people like me.

I have, to my chagrin, become what our newest breed of revolutionaries pejoratively terms a “corporate incrementalist.” I am the guy who lets the air out of the balloon, who sometimes throws a wet blanket over the festivities at gatherings of liberal/progressive, "I'm feeling the Bern" Democrats in the South Carolina midlands. I am the guy around whose neck a leper’s bell is hung so that you will know to avoid me if you’ve got a revolutionary contact high going and don’t want to be bummed out.

A student not long ago asked me if I was excited about Senator Sanders’ notion of free college tuition for all. I allowed that, in general, I was quite excited about it. But that, in particular, I had many unanswered questions about it and, lacking those answers, I leaned toward Secretary Clinton’s more specific and more clear policy per making a college education available to all who desired one.

She asked me to identify just one of those unanswered questions.

I agreed, keeping it simple: “Where will we get the money and how long will it take to build all of the new lab space that will be needed to accommodate several million new freshman students who, like you, will be required to take two science courses with labs in order to eventually graduate?”

Needless to say, the excitement and passion of the revolutionary is far more attractive than the considered reflection and due diligence that more characterizes those who, like me, bring scuba gear to policy conversations. It is one thing to be a cheerleader with a hot mic, a stage and a frenzied crowd with a shared vision. It is quite another to be the guy who believes that deep-dives into policy metrics do matter, that the devil really is in the details and that the ability to seriously and persuasively converse about and advocate for particular policies is crucial for their successful implementation.

Earlier this year, Austan Goolsbee, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago and former member of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, joined several colleagues---including Nobel laureates Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz---in a deep-dive per the metrics/economics of Senator Sanders’ healthcare plan.

Like me, they all support the eventual development and implementation of a universal, single-payer healthcare plan for the United States. But, after looking at Bernie’s plan, they unanimously agreed that, though he should be applauded for bringing the issue of single-payer healthcare to the fore of the campaign, his plan represented something approaching magical thinking. It had “evolved,” said Mr. Goolsbee, “into magic flying puppies with winning Lotto tickets tied to their collars.”

The Sanders campaign, which had not itself traveled as deeply into the metrics, dismissed the criticism by having its policy director simply say, “They’ve picked sides with Hillary Clinton.”

But he was wrong. The math just doesn’t work and metrics/data isn’t a Sanders’ campaign strength. As Timothy Egan of the NYTimes put it, the Sanders campaign if relatively “substance-free.”

Revolutions are exciting. They stimulate the passions. And I have enthusiastically watched college students and millennials in particular pick up their pitchforks and get involved in a positive movement. Which is the very reason I think deep dives into metrics/data matter so much.

I don’t want to see hundreds of thousands of young folks excitedly storm the barricades only to find a unicorn and “magic flying puppies with winning Lotto tickets attached to their collars” on the other side. Let the American Right sell its adherents economic snake oil; cf. Kansas, Louisiana. I’d rather the next generation of young revolutionaries get passionate about policies/issues that are righteous from top to bottom.