Brain Fertilizer

I probably try too hard to define the differences between us. I just know there is a very clear disconnect between what I see Democrats saying and what I feel. There must be some core values that are absolutely different.

I've seen various explanations...but people are so diverse and perverse, it's difficult to draw any straight line and divide the camps neatly.

However, I'll note that Winston Churchill once said that if you are young and not a liberal, you have no heart; whereas if you are old and are not conservative, you have no brain. Clearly, he felt that passion to make the world right is common in youth, and would bring you to liberal ideals; conversely, he assumed, wisdom gained through experience would tell you that liberal ways don't work, and you would eventually support conservative ideals, particularly when you had children you wanted to protect from the depradations of the world.

Well, I was never liberal, and yet I feel have great heart. I've just always been very interested in things that work, especially things that work for the right reasons. The ends don't justify the means, and good intentions mean squat, so I've tried to hold out for the right things done the right way for the right reasons.

It seems to me, though, that to be liberal is to want everything now, and to want everything easy. Complexity and paradox are ignored, and life and people are simple to a liberal.
Is there any way that Socialism can be reconciled to the way people really are? Of course not. Too many people are selfish and greedy and lazy. Not everyone, no, but enough that when you remove any incentive for hard work other than altruism, nothing gets done. Are people dying from not being able to afford preventative care? Implement Universal Health Coverage, and don't worry about the fact that making it universal will mean everyone will use it more and costs will go through the roof.

I have said earlier in this blog, I look for the long-term good. Everything I do with my children is to try to teach them some life skill, not just to keep them quiet and behaved to not annoy me. I am always willing to make sacrifices for some future good. I hate risks, and stick to the safe path in most cases, to ensure that I don't fail in life, to ensure that I won't have to depend on the government dole for my basic needs. I try to take care of myself and my family, because that's the best way for ourselves and the country in the long run. That means I don't get a BMW right now, even though we could afford it. That means I don't start my own business right now, even though I have a few ideas. That means I stay in the military, regardless of the sacrifices I make to do so, because earning my retirement is the best way to ensure financial security for my family.

And yet, I half expect the govt will break its promises to military veterans. After all, they have done so in the past. And so I cultivate my writing ability to perhaps be a professional writer. I continue to work on maintaining my fluency in Chinese, because there are things I could do as an expert on China issues, or as a teacher. I will continue to get higher degrees, because knowledge and skill help you to remain viable in various job markets. I don't just sit back and scream when the government doesn't give me what I want, I go out and find ways to get it myself.

Contrast that with the techniques and arguments used by liberals to avoid welfare reform, to maintain "affirmative action" quotas, to prevent any alteration of the right to abortion on demand. Heck, look at gun control: the accidental shooting death of a child is tragic, yes, but it is an immediate situation, and will most likely not be repeated; and yet, to avoid that tragedy, liberals want to disarm the populace, leaving us eternally subject to the predations of the unscrupulous. There is a minor, short-term benefit to banning guns, but it is to the clear long-term detriment. If my characterization of liberal vs conservative is correct, is it any wonder gun control is a liberal platform?

I'm sure there are other issues in which "immediate" vs "long-term" views correspond exactly with the "liberal" vs "conservative" policy/platform, but I can't think of any off-hand. Anyone care to give any examples that either confirm or contradict my point? Thanks.