Quote:
No one is asking for actual reductions in standards of living, so your prattling about making people poor and miserable is just hysteria.


Not exactly--it might better be termed a reaction to "the "liberal" dream. While any "asking for actual reductions in standards of living" might be --in your mind--questionable, there is no question that a demand has been and is being made for serious alterations in political realities. Since you are a "liberal", exactly how much personal freedom does the individual stand to gain? (Ponder your last paragraph.)

In my terms, since you are a "liberal", you have, politically, everything to gain and little or nothing to lose from an increase in poverty among developed nations--especially this one.

You argue for something that has no scientific proof, merely purchased opinion. Opinion that is self serving for you and your presumed (and stated) political goals.
President Reagan summed it up nicely, "Some people go through their entire lives wondering if they made a difference, Marines don't have that problem!!!"