The Liberal Mindset - why?

I apologize in advance if what I’m about to say is redundant, perhaps having already been stated in this 5 page long thread. I haven’t been keeping up on this board and don’t feel like reading a hundred posts to make sure I’m not wasting cyberspace............

I cannot stand ideologists, people who blindly believe that their philosophical principles will unerringly lead them to the "correct" opinions and behaviors. If there were such a perfect philosophy, it would have ascended to dominance by now. There is a reason that none has. It’s like the practice of medicine: When you see several different treatment options for a given condition it means that no one of them is ideal, otherwise it wouldn’t have competitors.

Having said that, I do favor conservatism if only because in most cases existing policies and procedures have stood the test of time. They evolved because they worked better than competing policies and procedures. People are comfortable with them. There may be realities out there that should be changed, but most of the time - at least in my experience in the US - they are the better options. There are always exceptions. LBJ once at that "Doing the right thing is easy. What’s hard is knowing what the right thing is." And there is no philosophy that guarantees the best option.

Conservatism is more logic based. It takes what seems to have worked best in the past and is skeptical of rejecting them in favor of novel theories born of idealism or emotion. Progressivism is based on nebulous -if admirable - concepts of fairness and justice and equality. In theory there is nothing wrong with that except that it too often leads to counterintuitive and objectionable results. But since its adherents feel that their opinions represent the higher aspirations and nobility of man, they too often conclude that their philosophical opponents must de facto represent the opposite. This is ultimately what I think leads to the sense of superiority, both intellectual and moral.

It’s hard to debate someone who is convinced that he a priori holds the intellectual and moral high ground. Your disagreement only serves to substantiate his/her conviction that you are unworthy of being taken or treated with mutual respect. Any debate eventually can become a contest of morals and it’s like arguing with a 1960s Hare Krishna…………………………….Luca

Or as the old saying goes, replacing what works with what sounds good.

How many people have to have their reputations destroyed on behalf of the Obamas and the Clintons?

Dave, I agree with you. I have two other observations:

(1) When she referred to earth as "God's creation", she probably lost a big chunk of her audience.

(2) Good-paying green jobs, advancing our economy, public health, clean air and clean water for our children, moral responsibilities, etc. are all great buzzwords. But her entire message was all platitudes and no substance. What are the specifics, because that's where things usually start to get silly.

Yes, and that is why I put this in “The Liberal Mindset-Why?” thread.

liberals know this has nothing to do with being a good steward of God’s creation and, what’s more, they don’t care.  I agree with MDDad, also in his observation she probably lost a part of her audience by referencing God, but she doesn’t care:  She was pandering and in her liberal mind, her supporters won’t leave her but her pandering “will” bring conservative Christians more open to the idea (note, I said “in her liberal mind”).

this method of conflating two similar ... but separate ideas is their stock in trade.  They have most recently (also) used it to infer conservatives oppose “immigrants” and don’t care that the truth is, we oppose illegal immigrants.

Bick, are you implying that liberals are hypocrites? My God, what a novel theory!

I would love to see a survey of all legislators nationwide who are big-time proponents of green energy and saving the environment, with a listing of how many of them drive electric cars, have solar panels on their roofs, and use fans instead of air conditioning in their homes.