Wednesday, May 03, 2006
A couple of nights ago, a friend and I were chatting about the differences between the right wing and the left wing philosophies and trying to figure out the fundamental differences. Our conversation opened my mind to think about who I am and where I came from.
I am a reformed conservative that changed when I graduated from college. This change was not fast but slow and subtle. Being raised Roman Catholic, the Christian fear and guilt was deeply instilled within me. It was a long and tough road to open my mind to even consider other opinions and beliefs but it was worth the journey. Today I am not liberal, not conservative but consider myself an active moderate. I support candidates from both conservative and liberal camps and I almost never support ultra right-wing or ultra-left wing opinions. I use the term ultra to mean the extreme version of either side.
I would rather have a mixture of both parties in power and never want an overwhelming group of either party in control. The problem today is the Republicans have obtained too large of a majority so the legislation is too conservative. We would have an identical problem if too many liberals were in control, except they would promote their liberal legislation.
The fundamental difference between the conservative and liberal ideology is simple. A liberal is usually open to receive a variety of opinions. A true liberal can even consider a conservative viewpoint because of this open mindedness. A liberal also can separate their ideals from the ideals of others to promote a system of toleration. This is how a liberal can be a personal pro-lifer but also agree to your right to be pro-choice. A liberal has little difficulty separating church from state.
The conservative is quite the opposite. They do not separate their beliefs from the beliefs of others. So if they are pro-life everybody else must be pro-life because pro-choice is fundamentally wrong. In their mind, toleration is not acceptable because toleration means they must compromise a system of beliefs that are uncompromisable. Usually these beliefs are based upon religious codes. This is why they cannot accept any new or different ideas. New ideas are a challenge to their religion and, as a result, they are very fearful of change. A conservative has difficulties separating church from state.
Conservatives also hold everyone responsible for the errors of the few by reducing all people to the lowest common denominator. So if somebody is or can take advantage of a program, then the entire program should be eliminated. For example, the government is trying to expand FMLA by including paid time off. Conservatives are against this because some people could abuse the system. Even though this would be a good thing for the entire country, conservatives are opposed to this because of potential abuse by a few people. Liberals understand people are going to cheat but do not want the legitimate needy to be held accountable for the errors of the few lawbreakers.
You will find that if you remove the issues and simplify everything, these are the root beliefs and differences between the two mindsets. There are no absolutes so these categories will work with most conservatives and liberals but not all. I have met ultra-liberals that reminded me of conservatives because of their fearful natures and their unwillingness to open their minds to differing opinions. However, these are the exceptions and not the rule.
Anyway, this is just an observation I wanted to share with everybody. I did not intend to discriminate or to tease any particular side.
I am a reformed conservative that changed when I graduated from college. This change was not fast but slow and subtle. Being raised Roman Catholic, the Christian fear and guilt was deeply instilled within me. It was a long and tough road to open my mind to even consider other opinions and beliefs but it was worth the journey. Today I am not liberal, not conservative but consider myself an active moderate. I support candidates from both conservative and liberal camps and I almost never support ultra right-wing or ultra-left wing opinions. I use the term ultra to mean the extreme version of either side.
I would rather have a mixture of both parties in power and never want an overwhelming group of either party in control. The problem today is the Republicans have obtained too large of a majority so the legislation is too conservative. We would have an identical problem if too many liberals were in control, except they would promote their liberal legislation.
The fundamental difference between the conservative and liberal ideology is simple. A liberal is usually open to receive a variety of opinions. A true liberal can even consider a conservative viewpoint because of this open mindedness. A liberal also can separate their ideals from the ideals of others to promote a system of toleration. This is how a liberal can be a personal pro-lifer but also agree to your right to be pro-choice. A liberal has little difficulty separating church from state.
The conservative is quite the opposite. They do not separate their beliefs from the beliefs of others. So if they are pro-life everybody else must be pro-life because pro-choice is fundamentally wrong. In their mind, toleration is not acceptable because toleration means they must compromise a system of beliefs that are uncompromisable. Usually these beliefs are based upon religious codes. This is why they cannot accept any new or different ideas. New ideas are a challenge to their religion and, as a result, they are very fearful of change. A conservative has difficulties separating church from state.
Conservatives also hold everyone responsible for the errors of the few by reducing all people to the lowest common denominator. So if somebody is or can take advantage of a program, then the entire program should be eliminated. For example, the government is trying to expand FMLA by including paid time off. Conservatives are against this because some people could abuse the system. Even though this would be a good thing for the entire country, conservatives are opposed to this because of potential abuse by a few people. Liberals understand people are going to cheat but do not want the legitimate needy to be held accountable for the errors of the few lawbreakers.
You will find that if you remove the issues and simplify everything, these are the root beliefs and differences between the two mindsets. There are no absolutes so these categories will work with most conservatives and liberals but not all. I have met ultra-liberals that reminded me of conservatives because of their fearful natures and their unwillingness to open their minds to differing opinions. However, these are the exceptions and not the rule.
Anyway, this is just an observation I wanted to share with everybody. I did not intend to discriminate or to tease any particular side.
posted by DarthImmortal at 9:31 AM
2 Comments:
I really don't have much of anything to add, for I think your evaluation of the differences between the two are right-on. I guess I would simply expand on your comment about Roman Catholicism and fear. From my perspective, the liberal approach (in general, not in all cases), is about Hope, trying to expand ideas and rights to as many people as possible, even though some people may abuse them. The conservative approach, again in general, not in all cases, is often about Fear, to try to limit ideas and rights to only those people who conform to them, and punishment to those who disagree. There is more of a black and white, night and day approach in many conservatives, whereas many liberals see both as necessary.
Or to put it simply, a conservative would see the Yin/Yang symbol as a symbol of opposites, whereas a liberal would see both as complimentary parts of a greater whole.
And to me, it's pretty easy to see which viewpoint (overall), allows for more freedom and tolerance, and more likely to lead to peace. One viewpoint tends to divide, the other tends to unite.
Andy,
A conservative will unite people but you must do it under their laws and rules. But basically you are right about the dividing and uniting concept.
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