{"id":2258,"date":"2010-08-11T09:57:40","date_gmt":"2010-08-11T13:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nicholsclan.com\/tinblog\/?p=2258"},"modified":"2010-08-17T22:22:42","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T02:22:42","slug":"is-left-right-divide-ideology-or-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timscogitorium.com\/tinblog\/2010\/08\/is-left-right-divide-ideology-or-rules.html","title":{"rendered":"Is the left-right divide about ideology or rules?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"donkey-elephant\"<\/a>While there is an ideological divide between Conservatives and Progressives, it’s not clear this is the fundamental chasm between the camps.\u00a0 It may be rooted in their respective worldviews. After all, the end goals of both sides are aligned.\u00a0 Everyone wants peace, prosperity, health, safety, and a good standard of living for their children.<\/p>\n

However, the apparent difference in the paths to get to this end state are misleading.\u00a0 Stereotypes say Democrats are for big government, social safety nets, and wealth redistribution.\u00a0 They are pro-union and anti-business.\u00a0 They are for protecting the environment and personal freedoms.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the Republicans are all about small government, fiscal austerity, and low taxes.\u00a0 They are defenders of capitalism and building businesses.\u00a0 They stand for freedom, morality, and clean living.<\/p>\n

Those are the stereotypes.\u00a0 Yet the data doesn’t bear that out.\u00a0 Republicans have grown government<\/a> and deficits<\/a>.\u00a0 They created the Medicare Part D<\/a> social safety net, and allowed passage of the Patriot Act<\/a> restricting many freedoms.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Democrats have cut taxes<\/a>, stood against teacher’s unions<\/a>, and pushed agendas like offshore drilling<\/a> with dire environmental consequences.<\/p>\n

It would seem the ideologies are not as rigid as we might imagine.\u00a0 Rather, the distinction lies in how the two sides view rules.\u00a0 For Conservatives, rules are all about absolutes.\u00a0 Something is right or it’s wrong, good or evil, black or white.\u00a0 All the while Progressives are lost in the gray.\u00a0 Everything is conditional.<\/p>\n

For Conservatives, business regulation is bad, raising taxes are bad, guns are good.\u00a0 For Progressives, it’s not so much that those values are flipped, but rather there is a level at which they are appropriate.\u00a0 Business should not be allowed to exploit citizens, taxes should be collected to cover expenses, and guns should be regulated to contain violence.\u00a0 Yet here is where it gets tricky.<\/p>\n

Progressives can’t even agree among themselves where these lines should be, and because of that are unable to walk in lock-step like their counterparts.\u00a0 Further, the notion that these lines should be left open to future interpretation by activist judges makes Conservatives very nervous.\u00a0 The result being that Progressives find Conservatives to be overly rigid and dogmatic, while Conservatives find Progressives to be wishy-washy and disorganized.<\/p>\n

This dichotomy of worldview is the bright line distinguishing the camps.\u00a0 It is why the right is so often accused of hypocrisy as it’s hard not to occasionally color outside the bold black lines.\u00a0 And it’s why the left is so often accused of flip-flopping or compromising as the world they see is so highly conditional.<\/p>\n

The ideological divide is not what keeps us apart.\u00a0 It’s all about how we view the rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While there is an ideological divide between Conservatives and Progressives, it’s not clear this is the fundamental chasm between the<\/p>\n

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