Monday, January 22, 2007

Liberals vs Conservatives

The contempt that conservatives have for liberals seems gratuitous to me. Liberals believe that sharing is an imperative and should be systematic, whereas conservatives believe that sharing should be optional, random and limited to ones own tribe.
Liberals are likely to respect and wish the best for people different from themselves as regards race, ethnicity, national origin, language, religious preference, gender, sexual orientation, age, economic status, geographic location and political system. I shudder to imagine America without such liberal initiatives as: the Bill of Rights, women's suffrage, abolition of slavery, public education, Social Security, child labor laws, limited working hours, minimum wage, integration of public accommodations, workplace safety, Medicare, affirmative action. Liberals are likely to believe that we should protect the environment, encourage cultural involvement, restrain the waste of nonrenewable resources, encourage family planning and regulate corporate behavior. Liberals are unlikely to quote authorities or doctrines. Considering how America benefits from the liberal agenda, it is hard to understand why so many people are receptive to sensationalistic, liberal-bashing talk-show hosts.
I would urge conservatives to imagine a society in which they have won every argument and all their wishes are public policy and to imagine a future with Republican domination of all branches of government. Do they really want a theocracy, more overpopulation worldwide, a military-industrial cleptocracy, a plutocracy, more federal deficit, more trade deficit, more people carrying fire arms, more disaffected citizens, more racial inequities, more global warming, more invasions of countries engaged in neither foreign aggression nor genocide? Do they believe their grandchildren would celebrate their success?

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