Expanding the Dendrites
I've been exercising the occupied space in my old cranium this morning.
I have been considering what I see as the differences between conservativism (aka classical liberalism) and liberalism (progressivism) and for me, it boils down to this:
Conservatism concerns itself first with reality, so people have the security to entertain fantasy, liberalism concerns itself first with fantasy, so people never deal with reality until they are forced to do so.
What I mean by that is there is a certain order of things – Maslow identified them. It seems obvious that when the basic foundations and challenges of reality – food, clothing, shelter, and security are assured, people can then concern themselves with innovation, exploration, art, music, leisure, fiction, learning, self-actualization, all the things that make for a happy and fulfilling life.
You can’t turn Maslow’s pyramid upside down. You can't stand it on the pointy end because it can't be kept in balance and will fall over.
You can't start out life with all the fun stuff – if you do, you are going to freeze, and starve to death naked, or at a very minimum a neighboring liberal tribe is going to beat you up and steal your lunch money - because they are naked, cold and hungry, too.
Conservatives are often characterized as insufferable and rigid bores by liberals – but I have found that just because they work hard and devote themselves to creating security for themselves, their families, and communities first, they often wind up being the most serious, engaging, literate and thinking people around.
I get the attraction for Libs. They are the new person at the party, and from a distance they look fun.
Liberals start out interesting, and I can see why – because when they are young, they are unencumbered by reality, are full of youthful energy and ideas that stretch the bounds of possibility.
But as they age, people realize what assholes they are and they always seem to wind up needing someone to take care of them – some academic entity, non-profit or government, and generally turn out to be the most snobbish, truly unaccomplished, entitled, and crass people on earth.
But that’s just me indulging my coffee fueled, wrinkly gray matter this morning.
The ant and the grasshopper writ large.
we all need some of that coffee !