A Socialistic Policy Defended By Conservatives

It is no secret that some people would rather accept an idea because a particular person proposes it to them than accept that idea, either fully on their own or when prompted by someone else, simply because it is true.  Not only is letting someone dictate one's worldview instead of merely consulting reason itself a fallacious and haphazard way of forming beliefs, but it is also likely to create a desire to see an idea embraced by a subjectively cherished figure before one will accept that idea.  Politics is a realm where this inane bias is particularly noteworthy.

A somewhat recent example is the lack of uniform conservative pushback against Donald Trump's plan to send stimulus checks to Americans during the COVID-19 crisis.  Although conservatives tend to rabidly object to any government-provided money other than that involved with tax returns due to a hatred of socialism, they have gone so far as to complain about liberal pushback against the bill.  Now, the money provided by this plan was intended to be paid back by future taxes, so it is not merely "free money," but it is still closer to socialism than not sending money at all.

Apparently, Trump's endorsement of the somewhat socialistic idea is all that was necessary for many conservatives to embrace something they may very well have furiously rejected if it had been backed by a liberal president.  Some evangelical conservatives act as if Trump can do no wrong, despite his legions of fallacies, contradictions, and erroneous philosophical or theological claims (when he used the phrase "Two Corinthians," evangelicals should have been roused from their usual dullness to see through his facade).

It is not that sending Americans (more specifically, most Americans) checks is an inherently flawed action in the present circumstances, and the decision could have very beneficial impacts.  This is far from the greatest example of political hypocrisy from either conservatives or liberals as it is!  However, the hypocrisy that leads some people to accept or despise a proposition based upon who is making it will hold them back from intellectual and moral consistency as long as they allow it to.  Far too often, people cling to one of the two flawed major parties despite their assumptions and hypocrisy all while calling out every real or imagined hypocrisy of the other side.