The Sorensen Monologues

A Simple Plan

This is an excerpt from my weekly newsletter.

For decades, right-wing ideologues complained that any safety net offered by the government was a form of “social engineering” that interfered with the “natural order” of the market. Of course this is utter hogwash, given that marketplaces themselves are highly engineered systems designed to keep money flowing upward; they cannot operate without a carefully-constructed legal framework; and they largely consist of social networks of people hiring those from their demographic in-group (such as fraternity brothers) rather than being some pure and godly measure of human greatness. A lot of the “social engineering” criticism contains a subtext of preserving dominant hierarchies, to put it mildly. Also, if markets are such a perfect measure of individual abilities, why did so many of history’s most talented writers, artists, and composers die poor? After enduring years of this market fundamentalist whining, it is laughable to see radical tech libertarians destroying America so they can engage in the mother of all social engineering projects.

To support this work and receive my weekly newsletter with background on each cartoon, please consider joining the Sorensen Subscription Service! Also on Patreon.