The Main Difference Between Liberals and Conservatives

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.

Being A Photographer . . Being A Doctor

If you have ever watched a medical show on TV . . ER, Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs . . inevitably there will be an episode when the doctors are stumped. They have a patient with some mysterious ailment. Tests are run, questions are asked, consultations with other doctors are made, but to no avail. Whatever the patient has, the doctors cannot figure it out, and they feel helpless. Usually in these shows there is that "aha" moment when the doctors stumble on a clue and discover what is causing the problem, and all ends well. Sometimes they stumble on the answer, and realize there is nothing they can do to fix the problem. This is usually the moment when a doctor realizes that despite his or her great skills and knowledge, they are after all human, and there are some things that even they cannot fix. Sometimes, as a photographer, I feel the same way.

I have photographed a bunch of events and activities and people over the years. Most of the time I get to photograph people under fairly controllable and pleasant conditions. There are usually options. If it is raining, I can usually find a covered area. If it is too sunny, I can find some open shade. Rarely am I in a position where I am stumped, when there are no options except for the worse one. This past Saturday was on one of those. At times I felt helpless, like the doctor with an ailing patient, and the only answer I could give that patient was there is nothing I can do. It was hot . . very hot, and it was sunny . . very sunny; and I was in a location where there was literally no place to go that was not hot or sunny. Some of the photos . . not all . . would be difficult to obtain under these conditions.

All of my experience and skills seemed to mean nothing at that moment. Well that is not entirely true, my experience did help me work through most of what I needed to do to make things work; but I knew at the time that the pictures would have been so much better under different conditions. I walked away humbled by the experience, much like I imagine a doctor walks away from a dying patient knowing he could not save that person. I am human after all. Fortunately the people I was working with that day were very understanding and patient with me (I hope). I do not like to make excuses. I was hired to do a job, and for their sake as well as mine, I wanted to do the best job possible. But even the best of doctors confront situations when they can do nothing more for their patient. It is not a failure, but it is humbling.