Hey guys, I found this article that is relatively nonpartisan in describing the reasons that Democrats fundamentally disagree with Republicans on the role of government. Both of these views can be seen as Exodus stories. One is focused on the Exodus of America from the tyranny of monarchial England and the other focuses on the Exodus of americans experiencing the hardships of social oppression. The author does a good job of describing how these worldviews came about and the dangers of each.
Here's the link.
I want to know what you think because I connect with both worldviews. Is this too simplistic?
In other news:
Thank you jamie for not reading for book club and instead cooking an awesome meal.
Matt, I hope your continued in depth study of NSYNC songs continues to go well. I suggest learning "Yo Te Voy A Amar" known in english as "This I Promise You". It's a keeper.
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2 comments:
Interesting article. But don't liberalism and conservatism extend beyond the United States? We are not the only country where liberals and conservatives oppose each other, but this article explains the difference solely in American terms.
I prefer how David Brooks explains the difference a column from 2006.
I see where you're coming from. I guess I see the exodus analogy as an explanation of how a worldview progressed, not that the specific worldview can't be shared by other cultures.
The quote of the article it seems like you're talking about goes, "The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself." That seems to be a pretty close description of the exodus stories. The conservative side is painted in a poor, defeatist light. They would say that it's not that they don't think politics can change culture, but that they don't think that a large government should be trusted with concentrated power but that the power should be more agile. I guess like your argument about the banks.
I couldn't tell if Brooks was hopeful or not. He says that education is key but at the end describes the "toxic desires" as "a disease we can neither cure nor understand". I also don't understand how the conservative view as described above fits into the Bush doctorine in Iraq of forcing our way without acknowledging that the culture is the root problem.
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