[conservatism_IS_compassion]

False, displaced expertise is the main support of socialism; one thinks of Albert Einstein's infatuation with it for example.

Fundamentally, the conservative critique of socialism is that few indeed are virtuous enough to be trusted with the power socialism implies--and it is essentially impossible for anyone with that much virtue to get that much power (since the virtuous do not crave power for its own sake), and even then the moral virtue of the person(s) given the power will not give them the supreme knowledge and understanding of practical affairs needed to make that centralized decisionmaking superior to the decisions derived from the many, each in their own realm of expertise however humble or significant.

And the attraction of socialism for the celebrity is precisely its claim of the existence within its counsels of glories of virtue and intellectual capacity. The celebrity, as I use the term, is famous for virtues irrelevant to the issue of whether socialism has practical benefits for our posterity or, as conservatives are confident, disasterous practical effects in the short and the long run.

The celebrity, famous perhaps for a winning smile or physical dexterity, is offered the chance to join the counsels of the putatively virtuous and polymath intelligence by the simple expedient of yielding to pride. And many do.

[general_re]

Precisely so. The authors have done a good job of exposing the appeal to authority inherent in many testimonials. Lord knows, we're swamped by celebrity endorsements these days - Barbara Streisand telling us to vote for Clinton, Woody Harrelson telling us to legalize hemp, Sean Penn telling us that war in Iraq is a bad idea, or whatever the cause du jour is among the vacuous Hollywood set. Babs and Woody and Sean have no special competence in those areas, or, generally speaking, any special competence outside of their chosen professions. Once they step out of their fields, they are perfectly ordinary people just like everyone else, and lacking any special insight, just like everyone else.