I’m surprised the caller stayed on the phone with you long enough for you to say this. They get paid by both response and volume so staying with a call like yours is not productive. Maybe, just maybe you caused the caller to actually think. If so then, Bravo!!
Me too. At the end of my lecture, they did say: "I never thought of it that way." Long run effect? Probably zero. Most people don't go beyond the surface.
Years ago I used to teach Principles of Economics, mainly to Freshmen students. The War on Poverty was in its infancy and a family of 4 with income of $9600 or less was considered poor. I used to tell my students I could end poverty overnight. They echo: "Really? How?" I told them all you have to do is get all of the people who make $9600 or less, line them up, and shoot them!
After their initial reaction, I asked: "How long is it before the guy making $9601 starts bitching because he's the poorest person in the land?" I learned a long time ago, the more outlandish the example, the more they listen. We would then go on to discuss the distribution of income, effort, productivity, and how you can't have equal incomes in a free society. Alas, Obozo and the rest of his ilk still haven't learned the lesson.