Last night, on primary day here in D.C., one of the kids I tutor asked me if I was a Republican or Democrat, explaining that his mom told him that Republicans hate the poor and black people.
That hardly makes her unique -- lots of people believe that Republicans are motivated by hatred and greed (which is tough to square with the fact that they are so darn happy, or maybe not). The thinking here seems to be that government money=compassion, and because Republicans are allegedly against government aid to the poor that they have such base motives.
The reality of course, is that conservative thinking has far more to do with the belief that government aid is simply not an effective means of assisting the poor (a belief bolstered by the success of welfare reform). The goal of helping the poor is shared, but the means are different (primarily private sector-led economic growth and private charitable initiatives).
But the left simply can't acknowledge these shared goals, because to acknowledge them would severely undermine their efforts to delegitimize the arguments of the right. The debate is not simply over policy effectiveness, it's over motives, which only impoverishes our politics.
That hardly makes her unique -- lots of people believe that Republicans are motivated by hatred and greed (which is tough to square with the fact that they are so darn happy, or maybe not). The thinking here seems to be that government money=compassion, and because Republicans are allegedly against government aid to the poor that they have such base motives.
The reality of course, is that conservative thinking has far more to do with the belief that government aid is simply not an effective means of assisting the poor (a belief bolstered by the success of welfare reform). The goal of helping the poor is shared, but the means are different (primarily private sector-led economic growth and private charitable initiatives).
But the left simply can't acknowledge these shared goals, because to acknowledge them would severely undermine their efforts to delegitimize the arguments of the right. The debate is not simply over policy effectiveness, it's over motives, which only impoverishes our politics.
1 comment:
Because I'm a peaceful person, donating time and talent to others, people automatically assume I'm a Democrat. Odd, isn't it? I'm a limited government/lower taxes/pro-life Republican. And a Catholic, taught to give to and serve others.
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