Top ten reasons why liberals are better than conservatives
Several weeks ago I read an excellent article that made the argument that conservatives had successfully made a bad word out of the term “liberal” over the course of the past thirty-plus years–despite the fact that liberalism was responsible for many of our societal advances in the mid-20th century. The article argued that it was time to fight back against that perception and to show the world just what a bad word conservatism can be. Unfortunately I did not bookmark the article and have not been able to find it despite my best effort to Google for it–if anyone knows the article I’m talking about then please reference it in a comment.
While some of my politics are centrist, I identify far more with the Left than the Right. In keeping with the spirit of taking back the word “liberal” as a good thing, I present the top ten reasons why liberals are better than conservatives:
10) Liberals prefer to be sensitive to the issues of various groups of people, while conservatives deride sensitivity as “political correctness.” (”Macaca,” anyone?)
9) Conservatives prefer cutting taxes on the wealthy even if it creates deficits. Liberals believe in paying for what you spend.
Conservatives prefer to thumb their noses at the rest of the world. Liberals remember that America is the leader of a community of nations.
7) Conservatives prefer to shoot first and ask questions later. Liberals prefer to ponder the long-term consequences of their actions before using force.
6) Conservatism cares most about what is best for the individual, and is therefore inherently a selfish philosophy. Liberalism cares most about what’s best for society and the environment as a whole.
5) Conservatives prefer to prey on the environment for the sake of industry. Liberals understand that without a healthy planet and environment there can BE no industry.
4) Conservatives want to legislate morality to other people who may not share their views. Liberals prefer to live and let live.
3) Conservatives believe that majority rules. Liberals understand that the Bill of Rights was crafted to protect minorities from the predations of majorities.
2) For conservatives, religion and politics are like bread and butter. For liberals, they are like oil and water.
And the top reason in my mind why conservatism is backwards and Luddite:
1) Conservatives prefer looking to the past for guidance on solving today’s problems. Liberals understand that times change and often require new approaches to problems not envisioned by our forefathers.
I also can’t help but toss in one last one for the sake of humor:
0.5) Have you ever known anyone “hip” who was a conservative? 
Tags: conservatism, conservative, liberal, liberalism
great post!
Hahaha! I totally agree with all of these. It comes down to having a bleeding heart versus no heart at all. And could Conservatives ever come up with something as funny as these: http://www.suckscards.com
lol I love those cards!
Probably no surprise, but I agree with each of these.
(And am going to link to this entry from my journal, so be prepared for some dissonance.)
JOhn.
I think you’ve done a very fine job of laying out why I find liberalism to be almost always preferable to conservatism. I might express a variation on a couple of your points with the assertion that while conservatives believe in government off the backs of business and intrusion in the personal choices of individuals, liberals believe that business (especially corporations) have power aplenty thanks to their wealth and require the kind of oversight and accountability that are not appropriate for the individual.
But I’m especially on the same page with you about conservatism being, at its heart, a selfish philosophy. I think John Kenneth Galbraith said it best:
“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.”
That’s a great quote.
I’d agree with this, but I know people who won’t, because they are old-style Goldwater conservatives and, frankly, are pissed as hell that neocons have co-opted their title.
The modern conservative is about as nonconservative as you can get, really - he just moved in a direction orthagonal to the political spectrum line.
Thank you for writing this; I found it both pithy and amusing.
Thank you…and I agree that today’s modern conservative is anything but.
fyi - if you say “hip”, you aren’t
ps. i love your site.
I’ve never thought myself particularly hip…I just know people who are.
Thanks for the compliment, I appreciate you reading!
We conservatives oppose political correctness because it is unfair. Why do blacks get to be called African Americans, but we whites are just called white people? Why aren’t we called European-Americans? Is it because liberalism tends to contradict itself?
Since you liberals don’t look to the past, you are condemned to repeat it. Look at the crises in Iran, if you would compare Hitler to the president of Iran, they are pretty much the same. You liberals are like Chamberland. You liberals appease the enemy. Look where it has gotten us so far. Look at North Korea, Bill Clinton and George Bush have appeased them. Now they have a nuclear arsenal because you libs apeased him.
You say liberals prefer to live and let live. Again you condradict yourself. What about abortion? Do you let the fetus live and let live?
You say conservatives prefer cutting taxes for the wealthy. Has a person poorer than you ever given you a job? The more money, the more investment in the economy, the more wealth to go around. If I spend $1000000 for a house, I just employed some carpenters to build it. Now they have money in their pocket becuase I was richer than them. Now they have money to buy food,clothes, and can pay any other expenses they need to. The money he spends on food goes to the grocery store. Then the grocery store gets more money so it can pay their amployees. All because I spent $1000000.
Poor anonymous… Not man/woman enough to sign his or her own name to their polemics. And you had to wait till the proprietor of this joint is on vacation to do it as well, didn’t you? What, can’t face being told how wrong you are?
“Trickle Down” economics is great on paper. But it never seems to work in the “real world” (you know the one with the strong liberal bias *laugh*). People with lots of money tend to look for tax shelters or foreign investments to increase their wealth. It’s not getting into the poor urban neighborhoods where it is most desperately needed. If it is spent anywhere, it’s spent in suburban neighborhoods giving the already privileged even more privilege, thus widening the gulf between the “haves” and the “have nots.”
JOhn.
You sound like an insecure white person, frankly. Who cares what you or anyone else gets called? Deal with it.
Irrelevant. This question assumes we both agree that life begins at conception, and we do not in fact agree on that.
I didn’t realize George Bush was a liberal.
Bear in mind that NK exploded its nuke on the conservatives’ watch, not the liberals’.
You sure seem like an angry conservative..does this have anything to do with the fact that (neo) conservatism as a viable philosophy is going down in the flames of Iraq? Does it have anything to do with the coming liberal ascendancy in this country that will fill the vacuum of ethics and leadership left by the conservative fiasco of the last six years?
I understand..i’d be pretty mad too if I were you. But it doesn’t change a thing.
And please..like John said below..if you’re going to post here, at least have the cojones to print your name and URL.
If you can afford $1,000,000 for a house and all those carpenters, I’m sure you can afford to pay your fair share of tax! You don’t need the tax cut, you’ll spend the money anyway.
You’re right, more wealth to go around is a good thing. But whereas you prefer that the rich keep more of what they already have in plenty, I prefer that the carpenters in your example keep more of their take home pay and increase wealth that way, where it’s REALLY needed–as opposed to you parking that extra money in some investment account to make you even richer.
Thanks for looking out for me here while I was on vacation, I appreciate it.
It’s a ball of cells, not a person. When it can live outside the womb without life support systems to keep it alive, it’s a person, and not before.
I bet everyone of you are Trekies, too. Get with the program, nerds and put the hauka down. Of course, everyone agrees with Centerblue’s post. If anyone of you could only stand the pain of common sense that a conservative will inflict upon you then stand up and take your beatin’. Let’s start with any of the top 10 reasons why Liberals are better than conservatives. Who’s gonna be first?
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You defeated your own argument. At one time carrying guns to protect against the government was a good idea, now you agree it is no longer that time. Therefore the present, once again, trumps the past–as any good liberal will tell you.
I’m not saying you can’t STUDY the past for guidance….but to try, for example, to interpret the Constitution in the exact same way the people who wrote it, people who knew nothing of Internet or abortion or nanotechnology or what have you, is absolutely ridiculous.
Regarding the taxing comment: it isn’t so much about taxing the rich more. It’s in fact about taxing them less. What do republicans do whenever there are economic problems? Cut the capital gains tax (only the rich own stocks, not the poor). Cut the marginal tax rate on corporations, but only rich people have corporations. Exempt them from paying social security taxes on income above $90k or whatever it is now–but of course only wealthy people make that much money. Given all these “perks” these rich folks get, I have absolutely no problems with assessing a higher income tax against them.
And please, spare me the whole BS about needing to cut taxes on the rich so they can create more jobs. The only place that money goes is into their yachts and their hedge funds, as the jobless recovery after the 2001 recession as well as the current credit debacle made clear.