I read this essay linked from fark.com (silly news site with
interesting links all over the web, highly recommended). Its basic
premise is that liberals are naive and narcissistic. He raises some
interesting points, but I think makes a couple of subtle errors that
conservatives always make when naysaying liberals.
“Liberals are always looking for excuses.” That is,
they excuse bad behavior or failure as the fault of society,
education, television etc. Many liberals will take this sophmoric bashing and fail to achieve an argumentative upper hand.
I sometimes wonder if they have not been properly schooled or had
their weapons sharpened to the precise edges necessary to do battle.
Conservatives love to slice and dice you on the value of your words.
A-ha, I nailed you through that chink in your armor. You must be
precise. Your imprecision is your failing. Your anger unbalances
you, grasshopper, or some such nonsense.
Your taxes benefit the rich!
Who are these rich?
Your policies hurt poor people.
Which policies?
Sometimes liberals have a difficult time answering these
questions. They feel they are right, but haven’t polished their
game. Conservatives know this and set back at a safe distance
hurling precise questions to which they know their opponent has no
answer.
You see, liberals feel things. I’m going to tell you how to feel
things and still make your case. I’m going to give you a tool
straight from the golf bag of your conservative rival. You are going
to use this club and you are going to beat him with it.
Let us begin.
First, yes, I agree with you. There are never excuses. People
make choices and some of them are bad. They sometimes make these
wrong choices because of things in their environment, but there are
never excuses. You are never excused from abiding by the law. You
are never excused for not giving your children all the possible
advantages that they deserve. You are never excused for your
failings. So, yes, I agree with you Mr. Conservative. People should
stop making excuses, looking for ways to peddle cupability to some
other unlucky soul or business or institution. You are not taking
responsibility for yourself and what is worse, you are handing your
power to that which does not have the right to retain power from you.
You are setting yourself up as a hapless victim by continuing to
abdicate your hard earned volition, your precious vehicle for success,
your humanity. You have become just one of “them,” one
of those powerless, victimized masses to whom much happens but the
flurry of motion disguises the true lack of forward movement.
To you, you tragic characters in a tragic play, I say, you are not
absolved. You are not excused. You are not through.
What a wonderful point you make. I couldn’t have made it better
myself.
Good, because now I am going to ask what are you going to do about
it?
Do about it? Why nothing, you said it yourself, people must take
personal responsibility.
But you see, we have a problem. This country has a problem. This
problem is here and now.
A problem created by you liberals. You and your social programs.
You’ve created a cycle of dependency, a cycle of crime, a cycle of
poverty.
It’s OUR fault? I thought it was THEIR fault?