To me, they aren't "liberal guilt speeches", first off, just a recognition of cause and effect. But the real problem, I think, lies somewhere in your interpret

To me, they aren't "liberal guilt speeches", first off, just a recognition of cause and effect. But the real problem, I think, lies somewhere in your interpretation of of the the goals of pointing such things out. I'm sure "Mr. Professor" is more than capable of recognizing that kids in schools aren't political leaders. "Mr. Professor" is pointing this out, not because they fancy themselves above the economic fray, but precisely because we're all in this together. That, in fact, is the actual message being conveyed by what you perceive as "liberal guilting". If you're looking for people who act above the economic fray, a far better source of those sorts of airy pronouncements would be, for instance, David Brooks or Tom Friedman, for whom massive economic dislocation tends to be a "to be sure" or "perhaps" tacked on to the end of a column about how great disruptive innovation is.