My friend Jerry comes over weekly to shoot the shit on either Monday or Tuesday.
He works weekends, so Monday and Tuesday are his days off. So hanging with me is his "Saturday night." The poor guy.
Jerry mentioned that he caught something on the internet that bothered him.
This teacher told his class that the difference between a conservative and a liberal was that Conservatives cared about big business and money, and liberals were more concerned about people.
Of course, I think this teacher is wrong.
Conservatives care about people; we just care about them differently than liberals do.
If I had to define the difference between a conservative and a liberal, I'd say it like this:
Conservatives believe in less government and empowering the individual.
Liberals believe that government can and should address all challenges any individuals may have.
And that's me being fair.
Now Jerry launched into this story about catching this video on YouTube where this strung-out homeless man was trying to revive a man OD'ing on the streets of Philadelphia. The man OD'ing was on the brink of death, and for a second, Jerry worried he would see a man dying on video.
Luckily, someone came by with some medicine that saved the man.
And Jerry breathed a sigh of relief.
Jerry knew something was going to save the man because there was no way YouTube would allow a video of a man dying on their platform.
But Jerry did care about the man.
A conservative watches that video and thinks the government should crack down on drugs. Most drugs are imported into the US, so we need strong border enforcement to limit the number of drugs on the street.
Local municipalities should have strongly enforced homelessness and public intoxication laws to dissuade people from living this life. Also, there's general public safety.
And what of the homeless and those suffering from drug abuse?
Yes, the government should provide some services to help the homeless, but not to the point it become enabling. Of course, now, Conservatives can and will quibble about the degree of help.
But also, an individual or a group of individuals, say an organization or a church, could do and have done better to help these folks.
As I see it, Liberals think the exact opposite, that the individual is already in this situation, so let's not stigmatize them. So let's get rid of the laws that criminalize these folks.
The government should provide these folk services, food, and shelter at all costs.
Taxpayers pay for it.
And what about drug enforcement?
I don't think liberals are against drug enforcement (especially the harder drugs like Feyntal), but for them, border security is wrapped in and around immigration.
Immigration, legal or illegal immigration, is based on racism and xenophobia.
Part of the problem with political discourse today is how that teacher is working off a false premise. Does he think that all conservatives are heartless human beings?
By saying what he said, he's made conservatives villains.
Who doesn't want to care about people?
I'll often give people the benefit of the doubt regarding their humanity. Then, I'll give 'em a little leeway regarding their political or moral views. Dig around a little to see how they came to view the world the way they do.
Overall, I think a vast majority of are good by nature, but the Power of Sin is often too great. But both Conservatives and Liberals fight it every day to care about our fellow man.
But, we have a different way of going about it.