Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
I've long held that I could, if I wished to, convince almost any liberal that I was liberal myself. So versed am I in their arguments, thinking and style that I believe I could infiltrate an Occupy Wall Street or Code Pink rally without any other attendee suspecting my sincerity. Even in those rare thoughtful and civil exchanges with someone on the other side of the aisle, I think I understand well their position and can articulate that to their satisfaction. I don't share their beliefs, of course, but I can state them in a way that they agree with.
What I find interesting is that the opposite is almost never true. Ask even a thoughtful liberal to characterize a conservative position on a topic and you'll usually get some silly strawman. This is not about truth or falsehood. Rather, it's an observation I've made about the Left's inability to state conservative positions in a reasonable way. Even when they try not to, they almost invariably represent the Right's arguments as cartoonish, ridiculous or simply stupid.
Why is this? If I choose to do so, I could step into their shoes and make their arguments for them. But they -- even the serious ones -- seem almost universally unable to do the same for me. Even if they don't conform to it, why can't liberals simply grasp an opposing worldview?
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Nov '11
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
Comparative lack of exposure, to at least some extent. If you want to go through life in a liberal cocoon, you can probably pull it off, at least in some parts of the country. Whereas if you at least went to public school, you had at least some exposure to the underlying philosophies, arguments, and emotions behind liberalism.
Actually, maybe emotion has a lot to do with it? Conservatives can recognize that most liberals are trying to help people but are going about it the wrong way. Liberals have a harder time seeing the same thing about conservatives, because we are saying "no" to all their great ideas.
Aug '11
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
Liberals are the albatross of the political landscape. They fly just above the waves, skipping across the political surface, never stopping, never delving below the surface of any political matter. They see just the tips of the waves, one after another, and wonder why everyone isn't just like them, gliding through life on nothing more than air. Conservatives are penguins. They can't fly at all, except below the surface, where they face all kinds of dangers. On land, they are stubborn, dogged, awkward creatures, fiercely loyal, protective and dedicated to a lifetime mate and their progeny.
Edited on June 14, 2012 at 3:31amMay '10
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
It is because, while we have to defend our ideas, vocally or in our own minds, all the time, liberals are never in a position where their ideas and values are exposed to scrutiny or even ridicule. Thus they are never required to defend them or examine them. Defending your own ideas requires understanding the opponent's ideas.
"The unexamined life is not worth living." -- Socrates
“He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that.” -- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
Apr '12
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
In some religions, the priest's primary function is to do all the congregation's thinking for them. The priest is charged with diligently informing the congregation of heretical thoughts to be avoided; recusant and threatening arguments to ignore; apostates to be shunned.
This greatly comforts the congregation, since they don't have to figure all this out on their own, and this ensures they won't accidentally wander into temptation. They can feel sure of themselves; secure in the knowledge their religious beliefs can never be challenged.
David Mamet tells us he never met anyone who wasn't liberal until he was 60. This is far more common that you might imagine.
Mar '12
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
What an interesting analogy, Doug. I'm going to use this one.
May '12
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
Permit me to echo some of what has already been said here.
I used to be a Liberal until I left this country and saw what the Communists did to East Berlin, and not just physically. I had no occasion to think about what I was thinking before that.
Liberals tell themselves the Lies of Aspiration, which are the most beguiling of all Lies.
Sep '11
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
I also wish to echo. Some years ago, the faculty at the school where I teach were asked to read a dreadful book, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
The author contended that all whites were racist (I won't go into the semantic gymnastics by which she arrived at this conclusion) and along the way she pointed out that blacks understand whites because we all live in a "white fog", of which white people are unaware. I immediately understood what she meant, because we all also live in a liberal fog, of which liberals are unaware. Which speaks to Brasidas's question, I think.
Mar '12
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
My sense is that it has to do with something beyond lack of exposure to conservative thinking or the ideological cocoon, although I agree that this is a major factor. I think there's something else going on, something linked to a closed-mindedness or an inability to conceive of things that aren't owned or held by one's self.
Mar '12
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
Yes, it does indeed.
Feb '11
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
I know exactly what you mean, Brasidas. I have had the same discussion with different liberals over abortion, tax rates, the Constitution, etc., and I feel I can predict the way the discussion will go and which liberal/progressive talking points will come up next. They always seem to feel that my arguments are totally new to them (and usually quite infuriating, because they cannot be brushed aside or easily countered) whereas they are so totally predictable as to be laughable.
As with so many things, Bill Whittle has a great video on this.
Apr '12
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
@Leigh commented if you were in the liberal cocoon, you did not get exposed to realities of life. This analysis is strangely the biggest reason for a liberal not getting depth if understanding of a conservative view. A professor told me that we needed to educate the northern Canadian mine workers who were so ignorant without a degree. When I said that the miner made more money in one year than she made in three, and even if you offered a degree for free would not take it, she refused to believe it. Facts did not fit her mindset about education. Yet, these miners did certification for skills, which was to me, a similar jump the hoops experience. I studied Industrial Relations and was converted to Marxism, to my poor parents horror. Only when I worked for a union and observed the Electricians negotiated sweet deals for themselves, did I catch on to the big scam. That Charles Murray test measuring life outside of the bubble is a meaningful test because he measures exposure to reality rather than theory.
Jun '10
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
It's just this simple: the liberals have had this country by the throat since FDR was president. They don't care because they don't have to. We are a buzzing sound in their ears. We have almost no real power in this country.
During the Cold War there was a shared fear of the USSR but after that era of security alignment we have no shared vision and since then they have taken all the reins of power unto themselves. Also, they used the Cold War to develop the power in other parts of the government to use over us -- the so-called domestic agenda.
We are in big trouble and American values are being tossed out and they are using our country and our money to do it.
Another thing about the Cold War is that the left always tried to show how nuanced they were with regard to the Soviets and how dogmatic the right was. Much of Soviet propaganda was directed against the hawks in this country. The result of all this money and ink is the state we are in now -- America is held to be evil all over the world by the left.
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
There was actually an academic study conducted on this topic that concluded that conservatives understand liberals, but liberals don't understand conservatives. I summarized it here. Some commenters proceeded to send the piece to their liberal friends. As you can imagine, it wasn't received well!
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
P.S. Brasidas, judging by the way you dressed at the recent Ricochet SF Meetup, you wouldn't be able to blend right into an OWS rally. You'd look more like the guy from Morgan Stanley who came to check out the rally on his lunch break.
Mar '11
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
The liberal philosophy grew out of the mechanical age and the liberal views society as a machine. The liberal believes he can extract, examine, and repair the component parts of this machine in isolation then stick them back into the machine and have that machine work better than ever. When you speak to a liberal you'll notice that they confine themselves to a very specific problem and solution. They do not think in terms of the machine. We tend to think at the machine level. We can understand how they plan to fix the part but also understand when you stick that part back into the machine it will impact the other parts in unforseen ways. In other words, their thought process is a subset of our own. We need to understand the parts to understand the whole.
Apr '12
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
To answer your question: It's Mr. Marx's Fabulous Brainwash Curl & Dry (now for children too!).
Mar '11
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
Doug Kimball: Liberals are the albatross of the political landscape. They fly just above the waves, skipping across the political surface, never stopping, never delving below the surface of any political matter. They see just the tips of the waves, one after another, and wonder why everyone isn't just like them, gliding through life on nothing more than air. Conservatives are penguins. They can't fly at all, except below the surface, where they face all kinds of dangers. On land, they are stubborn, dogged, awkward creatures, fiercely loyal, protective and dedicated to a lifetime mate and their progeny. · 1 hour ago
Edited 1 hour ago
What they lack in grace, they make up for in style.
May '10
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
From Thomas Sowell's latest article:
Edward Smith: ....
Liberals tell themselves the Lies of Aspiration, which are the most beguiling of all Lies.
Also true.
If only we were willing to move past our hate and our ignorance, we too could be liberals.
Nov '11
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
The moment a liberal successfully articulates conservative principles, he immediately stops being a liberal.
Edited on June 14, 2012 at 5:47amJun '10
Re: Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
Why Are Most Liberals Wholly Unable to Even Articulate Conservative Viewpoints?
Wait...wait...I know the answer to this one...aaarrrghhh! It's on the tip of my tongue...no...no...I got nothin'.