It’s entirely reasonable for a liberal to note that the distribution of conventional resources is usually a rather ineffective way to improve people’s lives and instead support (1) things that have already been shown to have a large impact, like education, and (2) research into what makes the biggest difference.

If you care about people, you’ll figure out how to actually enable them to attain more of their potential and have richer, more meaningful lives, not just toss resources at them and call it good.