There are many points where liberals and conservatives part ways. Abortion . . immigration . . gun control . . taxes . . the list goes on. I am always amazed how even on the most obscure issues or events, liberals and conservatives like clockwork line up directly opposed to each other. It is almost as if people are wired to think and see issues differently. which when you consider how people are raised and educated, may be the case. Liberals start with a different set of premises than conservatives, and how they perceive an issue is largely influenced by those premises. This is true when you look at politics, social issues, and even a person's spiritual life.
I have come to the conclusion that there is one principal premise that drives the liberal mind: the belief in a utopia on earth. They envision a world where no one gets hurt (including animals), no one is offended, everyone is magically given the same resources, money is not an issue when governing, everyone gets along, everyone is of one accord (the liberal accord), the good of the utopian society holds precedent over the individual, and everyone is obliged to support and defend the pursuit of this utopian society. To this end, they need government. More specifically, a centralized, all knowing, omnipresent government. And so through regulations, laws, decrees and policies we have an endless array of intrusions on liberty, all in the name of building a more perfect society, a society with no crime, no pollution, no hate, no inequality of any kind, and where people live in blissful likeness. This is why I am not a liberal. This is not utopia . . it is tyranny. It is government attempting to control the behavior and the thoughts of it's citizens. It is as if they are saying "we don't want fat people in our utopia, or people who use certain words, or people who value God more than the state". Individual responsibility . . a thing of the past.
I think it is fair to say that most people desire to see the world become a better world. We want to see not only our own lifestyles and living conditions improve, but our neighbors as well. Every day people are driven to learn more and take more risks in order to achieve a better life. There are ways to do this though that don't involve the heavy hand of tyranny. The free market and capitalism have been the best tools ever invented for reducing poverty. Take one look at the poverty in countries that have been ruled by dictators. One disaster after another. Socialism and communism were both designed to create a form of utopia. Both have failed.
Conservatives do not believe in a utopian on earth. In heaven, yes; but not here on earth. Conservatives tend to see people as sinners with selfish hearts. There will always be people who are mean, evil, and hateful. There will always be the poor (even Jesus said this in Matt 26:11) and there will always be the wealthy. There are people who are lazy and unmotivated, and there are people who are driven toward success. With 350 million people in America alone, the very idea that social engineering will conform all those people into slender, fit, equally educated, equally motivated and pleasant people is crazy. Liberals have been governing in every inner city in America for most of the past 100 years, a fantastic opportunity to put their utopia dreams into action; and what have they produced? Hardly a utopia. In fact, quite the contrary. Why? Because what some political and educational elites dream up in some university seminar never takes into account the basic sinfulness of man. No amount of regulations or social engineering will ever atone for that.
It is not that conservatives are anti government. Government is good for establishing rules to play by in society. But the rules need to be simple to understand, appropriate and relevant to the game, and applied fairly to all. It doesn't have to be that hard. Politicians are driven by the misguided belief that they know better than their constituents in all things. "If only we can get people to behave this way, our society will be a better place". And so laws are passed and taxes are raised to get people to act "this way". But people don't and won't act "this way". People act the way they want to act, which is kind of what America is all about. Freedom. The right to be an individual pursuing my own dreams. The land of opportunity. The role of government is largely to protect those rights. Some may argue that this is the only role for government. We have gotten so far away from this, all in the name of experiencing utopia on earth. More like hell on earth.
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