The Left and The Angry Left

There are left wing people in this country, and then there is The Angry Left. I have no problem with left wing people. I don't agree with them. I'll debate them. I don't want them running the country, but I have no problem with them personally.

The Angry Left, on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish. There is no discussing anything with its "members", because they start off with a few basic assumptions which will never change no matter what you say:

1) They know better than you do what is good for you.
2) They are smarter than you.
3) Conservatives/Republicans, by definition, don't care about anyone other than themselves.

There are other, more specific assumptions that they make (the U.N. is a force for good in the world, the U.S. is a force for evil; Arab autocracies are good, democratic Israel is bad, etc., etc.), but those are too numerous to mention.

I have blogged about him before, but to me, the ultimate example of an Angry Left "thinker" is Ted Rall. His latest piece is essentially an homage to socialism: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucru/20070905/cm_ucru/killthepoor;_ylt=AgZzXtLJ7NF4w8UKWGeHBpwE1vAI.
If anyone can find me a country where socialism has done anything other than make everyone poorer, I'll listen to your argument. However, I don't think that North Koreans, Cubans and (soon) Venezuelans, Bolivians and Peruvians would necessarily agree.