Bedrock Values of Progressives and Conservatives

"Government is here to help a people thrive."  

"No, government is here to protect our freedom."

Citizens who talk with neighbors confront the simple fact that Americans disagree with each other on fundamental values.

Just what are those differences?

Today's post is a Guest Post by Rod Kessler. He is a college classmate. He taught English at Salem State University in Massachusetts for 31 years. He recently served as a delegate to the Massachusetts Democratic Convention. His own politics are progressive.

Rod Kessler

He has tried to make sense and put into words his observations gained on the doorsteps of neighbors while he canvassed for a local issue. His conclusion wasn't that the people who disagreed with him were simply infected by Fox News. Nor was the difference ethnic or political tribalism. Nor is it differing responses to the archetype characters, personalities, and body language that this blog says animates political leadership.

He wrote up what he thought were the bedrock differencesL a matter of principle, differing conceptions of the role of government.

Guest Post by Rod Kessler

"Getting Down to Bedrock"

I am a progressive, but I think I understand that deep down we are different from conservatives.  

What progressives believe deep down:

            

The Individual and Society

When functioning well, the community promotes the greater good of everyone. We’re in the same boat, and by contributing together we improve everyone’s common lot. If someone else needs a leg up, we as a community must lend a hand; should we need a leg up, we look to the community for help. 

Government

The government, essentially, is “us,” not “them,” and we trust it to take care of us.  It is the instrument by which the community promotes the greater good.  Understanding that regulations are in fact protections, we look to government to maintain the infrastructure and ensure public safety, to protect the environment, to safeguard foods and medicines. Government is the community’s tool for achieving the public good.

The Market

If capitalism is a powerful mechanism for organizing the community’s economic life, unregulated capitalism inevitably leads to dysfunctional levels of inequality, to social injustice, and ultimately to political unrest. The marketplace needs regulations that limit the monopolistic amassing of resources and allow for sufficient redistribution of wealth to maintain social well-being—to preserve a middle class, for example. 

What the conservatives believe deep down:

The Individual and Society

Whether we’re born into the world in better or worse situations, each has the potential to achieve and prosper, and, ideally, society promotes our doing so by not placing obstacles in the way. One’s fate, then, will be in one’s own hands—and so will others’ fates be in their own hands. Naturally, those with strong charitable feelings could choose to lend a hand to the needy, but doing risks undermining recipients’ work ethic.

Government

We need enough government to maintain civil order, protect our borders, and help keep the world safe for the operation of free markets. We need a strong army and effective laws—and law enforcement—to protect property and the day-to-day functioning of personal and commercial life.

Government oversteps its role when it interferes with the individual’s freedom to achieve and prosper. There’s the risk in democratic societies that the majority will impinge on the rights of that much smaller group whose success has produced wealth and productivity. So-called “entitlements” such as social security, universal health care, welfare, food stamps, are ways that the undeserving numerical majority seeks handouts from the successful. Beware government’s tendency to grow too big and corrupt. 

The Market

A freely functioning market is good because competition is good. There are risks to markets. First, cronyism, when personal connections pick winners and losers. Then there’s governmental interference—laws going back to the trust-busting days of Teddy Roosevelt that hobble players in the competition. The freely functioning market can usually weed out destructive practices and products.

Progressives and Conservatives talk past each other.

Progressives and conservatives see issues differently because of deep-down assumptions. To progressives, the right wing’s attacks on healthcare-for-all sound like heartless selfishness. Aren't we supposed to help each other? To conservatives, progressive efforts to promote social justice through affirmative action sound just plain unfair. Shouldn't ability and hard work be rewarded without a thumb on the scale?  What is cooperation and community to a progressive seems like dependency and robbery to a conservative. What is freedom and fair competition to a conservative seems like cruelty to a progressive.





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