There is a growing tendency in modern political discourse to reduce extraordinarily complex issues to catchy slogans.  “No Human is Illegal,” “Trans Rights!” “Defund the police,” these phrases are designed to fit on a bumper sticker—not to explain reality.

The problem isn’t that such slogans are necessarily false.  Some contain an element of truth.  The problem is that they substitute conclusions for reasoning.  They bypass the difficult questions: Compared to what?  Under what circumstances?  At what cost?  What are the trade-offs? Instead of encouraging thought, they discourage it.

Take the slogan, “Diversity is our strength.”  Diversity can indeed be a tremendous strength.  But whether it becomes one depends on many other factors—shared values, social cohesion, educational issues, institutions, and a willingness to unite around common civic principles.  Simply declaring diversity to be a strength is actually an ignorant statement because it tells us nothing about why it’s a strength – where’s the evidence?

The same is true of almost every major public policy issue.  Crime, healthcare, immigration, education, the economy and taxes, are all enormously complex issues with competing priorities and unintended consequences.  They cannot be understood, much less solved with a slogan designed to fit on the bumper of a late model electric vehicle.

Take the recurrent democrat battle cry, “Tax the Rich!”According to IRS data for tax year 2023, the top 1% of American taxpayers paid 39% of all federal individual income taxes, the top 10% paid 70% percent, and the top half of all taxpayers paid 96.7%.  Meanwhile, bottom half paid approximately 3.3% of federal individual income taxes.  Yet if you ask a democrat about fairness in taxation the best you’ll receive is “Everyone needs to pay their fair share.”  But what’s fair, to whom, and who decides?

That’s why such bumper stickers are so politically effective.  They appeal to emotion rather than thoughtful analysis.  They provide certainty where uncertainty exists and allow us to appear as if we’re giving a pithy response when we’re unsure if we’re on foot or horseback.

So, here’s a novel idea, challenge every slogan—especially the ones you agree with!  Ask yourself: Where is the hard evidence?  What are the trade-offs?  Under what conditions is this true?  While those questions rarely produce simple answers, they usually produce better ones.

I’ve come to believe that the moment a complex issue is displayed on a bumper sticker is the moment we should become suspicious.  Reality is never that simple.