I’ve been racking my brains trying to come up with a “reasonable” way of presenting how liberals differ from conservatives without resorting to the arrogant, presumptuous “we know more, because we experience more” argument.
I decided to write this “piece” because for one, I like these cerebral sorts of arguments. If you look at my past posts about similar topics (politics, religion, you name it), I try to exhaustively explain my thought process – because everything has a context, and if you are aware of the context, it’s easier to “understand.”
Before we begin, I’d like to invite you to watch the TED video I posted in the past – which discusses conservatives and liberals – and their dynamics in a society.
Both sides certainly have to exhibit a certain degree responsibility when interacting with the other – however, I will have to be honest in saying that from my observations, it’s always a matter of our side having to “water down” our actions. As far as I have seen, there has never been a case where the other side had to “compromise.” If ever they “did,” it was not nearly as close to the degree we’ve always had to exert. I guess such is the fate of minorities.
What bothers me though, is that even the mere “acceptance of things as they are” seems to be so far from what they are willing to do. Either we step in line with their views, or we are labeled as destructive forces in any social structure.
As such, I personally believe there should be a limit as to how far our side has to “bend” for the other – because God knows we’ve been bending enough. We bend any more and we would not be true to ourselves… we can’t have that now can we?
There is so much more we are capable of doing to truly be “fulfilled,” but we keep that in check because we know we’re in the minority. It would’ve been good if people simply accepted others as they were – lock stock and barrel. It would’ve been good to recognize that each individual has his or her own way of seeing/dealing with life. And while each of us are broken in our own way, each one of us also has something valuable to contribute – and that’s precisely because of who were are… not who we “try” or “want” or “ought” to be.
You may ask me why I’m so firm in my resolve – a resolve that, by conservative standards, may very well damn my soul to hell (an exaggeration of course, but you get the picture). The answer isn’t that complex at all, and I will attempt to show you in the form of a photograph. Read More
