But it also yields an insight into the Coulter-Conservative mindset.

These people do not seem to be able to grasp that what is good for the community as a whole is not necessarily what benefits their segment of the community. I don't have kids, I never wanted any. But I never resented the fact that my taxes were higher than those of folks who did. I'm not poor, sick, or disabled either, but I never resented sharing my wealth with them when I was young, affluent and healthy. I recognized that in the long run it was also in my best interest. I am not a do-gooder by nature, I just am able to think beyond the limits of my own hoard and to recognize that the better off we all are, the better off I am.

It is fair to argue whether social programs and tax policy are effective, or fair, or efficient, or properly administered, but whether or not they are justified is self-evident. If Ann were in a band of apes, she would be shunned by her peers, but she probably would not be cast out altogether. After all, apes take care of their tribe, even the most damaged ones. Its what makes us human.

Children are unproductive, true, but they are the future. The aged and infirm are also non-productive, but not only did they create our current prosperity, they are also our memory and our reservoir of wisdom. We OWE them, not just out of gratitude, but because they still have a role to play in our collective future. And the poor are not congenitally lazy, stupid and criminal, they are poor because those who benefit most from our society have not used their leadership as an opportunity to mold that society in a way that benefits everyone and utilizes everyone's contributions. Instead, they have looted and taken everything they could in a desperate attempt to exclude everyone they could..

The Coulters of this world are essentially selfish. THEY are the looters and takers. They disguise their greed and lack of empathy, not to mention their reluctance to contribute to the welfare of the tribe (which is, after all, a prerequisite to their own welfare) in abstract ideological and philosophical arguments. Its no wonder they employ that rhetoric so stridently and persistently.

She did get one thing right..."empty lives of quiet desperation"...perhaps there we see the deep psychological injury that underlies this particular form of sociopathy.