This was originally a reply to a comment by Kevin Tracy to an earlier post about the new Professorship of Conservative Thought at the University of Colorado Boulder, but I didn’t want it to get lost in the comments, so I’ll share it here.
I assume that most liberals are liberal for all of the right reasons. They are seeking justice, equality, freedom and a better life. Unfortunately, liberalism can’t provide this if the lessons from history are to be remembered.
I probably wouldn’t be somewhat conservative today if I hadn’t been exposed to liberal thinking in college. (I’m never “full-on anything” because nothing in life is perfect). Some of the attractiveness of liberalism to youth comes from being uncertain about ones future. The thought of a “safety net” is always a great thing when the future is uncertain and when someone is just starting off on their journey through life. The same is true during tough economic times when jobs are on the line and things are uncertain. There’s a certain comfort to be had knowing that the bare essentials will be provided — although, I’m certain that most young people want more than just the bare essentials.
While I’m not hard-core conservative — I’m more of a libertarian at heart — I do see that it ends up being a better system than liberalism because conservatism is the system that mirrors the way that most people learn to be self-sufficient in their own lives. I’m Catholic, so I also see the need for social justice and helping the poor the way that Jesus wants us to do. It has been my experience that entities other than the government usually do a better job at helping the poor.
Liberalism can be compared to parents letting their kid live at home for many years after graduation from college — all of the parental compassion ends up running the risk of limiting the child’s overall quality of life. Along with the free rent and food, often comes other restrictions. The same is true when the government is providing ones livelihood and food. Nothing comes for free and the cost of security is sometimes a loss of personal freedom.
In its worst forms, liberalism allows the state to take control of the lives of others because it becomes so entangled in the daily lives of its constituents. When the government provides all, it can also deny all to those it doesn’t like. Our government was developed because the founders didn’t trust the government to not end up becoming a tyranny. It’s human nature for those given power to abuse it when there are no checks on said power. (This is a criticism of a lot of the security measures that have come out of the global war on terror — governments of all political leanings crave more and more power and control).
No government is ever going to be caring and really concerned about any individual, despite all of the rhetoric because there is no way that a government bureaucracy can ever really care about its constituents. Despite its stated intentions, government bureaucracies end up existing to expand and capture more power and funding.
Liberals at heart are seeking love and compassion. Unfortunately, government bureaucracies can never provide what the liberals are looking for.
While there are many faults that can be found with conservatism, it does provide a higher level of freedom and free will for its constituents when the checks and balances contained in our Constitution are fully functioning.
I’m curious to read your thoughts and views. Feel free to share, especially if you disagree with anything I’ve written.
Technorati Tags: conservatism, liberalism
