Ignorant And Evil
Liberals and Conservatives in America differ greatly in their core beliefs and nowhere is this more starkly highlighted than in their views of why their respective enemies are wrong.
The Liberals deride their enemies, by and large, as being ignorant and easily mislead; Conservative, by and large, claim that their enemies are evil.
I find it a very interesting dichotomy of outlooks.
The reasons and motives that Liberals and Conservatives in America ascribe to each others’ actions is, so far as I can see, nothing but a “high-proof” distillation of their respective worldviews.
The Liberals
In most cases the Liberals seem to believe that little or nothing that anyone could do that they consider as anti-social or contrary to their Liberal values is that person’s fault because they don’t seem to believe that it was a matter of choice.
When Liberals encounter someone who behaves or believes is manner that they find wrong the Liberals tend not to blame the person in question. They tend to shift the blame to society as a whole. It’s not the person’s fault; they’re not fully accountable for their behavior or actions because they weren’t properly educated, weren’t provided with successful results, and other such things.
The Conservatives
In most cases the Conservative seem to believe that nearly anything or everything that anyone could do that they consider as anti-social or contrary to their Conservative values is that person’s fault because they don’t seem to believe that it was anything other than a matter of choice.
When Conservatives encounter someone who behaves or believes is manner that they find wrong they tend to believe that the person has willfully chosen to be like that. Society and circumstance are rarely blamed due to the Conservatives’ belief that people of good character can and will overcome any obstacles put in their paths.
~*~
In the course of political discourse in America the rhetoric of these two views devolve into condescension from the Liberals and vitriol from Conservatives.
The Liberals deride the Conservatives as ignorant, stupid, or mentally damaged and seek to re-educate them into Liberal views, and the Conservatives deride the Liberals as evil people who have chosen to believe and act as they do and who are likely not amenable to conversion.
Such will likely continue until one side or the other is destroyed and consigned to history because the forms these arguments take is nothing but a distillation of the core beliefs of the two sides.
Tags: America | Conservatives | Education | Ethics & Morality | Evil | Ignorance | Intelligence | Liberals | Philosophy | Politics | Society | Stupidity
December 4th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
There is a 3rd, although unlikely option.
That is for those of us who hate extremists to finally get fed up and kill both sides.
This would, of course be the best possible option. It’s about time that the majority, who do not belong to either of the crazies, finally have enough of this crap and put an end to it once and for all.
Unfortunately, we’re all busy trying to make a living off what the extremists are doing to our economies, and don’t really have the time or energy to do the right thing.
But eventually it’s time to weed the garden.
December 4th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
“That is for those of us who hate extremists to finally get fed up and kill both sides”
So you want to stop extremism by murdering everyone who disagrees with you?
December 4th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Charles,
One – merl values got to the point before I did; you say that both poles should be killed and somehow don’t describe that as extremism?
I’ll give you credit for originality though; you’re the first radical centrist / moderate extremist I’ve ever encountered.
Two – I wasn’t talking about the extremists of either side. The fundamental viewpoints and means of argument are roughly the same among all Liberals and Conservatives respectively.
December 4th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
“you’re the first radical centrist / moderate extremist I’ve ever encountered.”
LOL!
December 4th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
You know, merl values, when I stop to think of it, there’s no reason why there shouldn’t be radical centrist / moderate extremists. Extremity of action or response doesn’t really have anything to do with the extremity of ones goals or positions.
If the center, such as it is, got angry enough at the ends of the curve, they could generate their own extremists.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:46 am
[…] unequivocally said yes; political moderates are not a source for extremist behavior. Then I got a comment on a recent post: There is a 3rd, although unlikely […]