Macro vs. Micro...Liberals and Conservatives?

In the Oakland airport, I saw an elderly woman waiting for a wheelchair with her middle-aged son. Both of them were recent immigrants to the US.

As was to be expected during my sojourn to the Bay Area, I interacted with a number of people whom some might call "liberal."

I did my best to keep an open mind and listen to them. I think I made some progress.

In looking at this elderly woman, I had a realization that, at least for me, helped to explain the difference between the Republican/Conservative (R/C) mind and the Democrat/liberal (D/L) mind.

For the first time, I realized the "rightness" of both arguments.

It seemed to me that, looking at this elderly woman who had come to the US very, very late in life as part of a family reunification program, that the D/L mind celebrates the human and her chance for a better life. She is with her family. She has access to the best healthcare in the world. She is free from the oppression of her native land and she can grow old with dignity. What a wonderful thing. This is a micro-perspective (not micro as in small, but micro as in a focus on the benefits to the individual). The concern is for the dignity, respect, and care for the individual.

The R/C mind, however, acknowledges the benefits that accrue to this individual but asks the question about the societal costs. While it is great that this one woman gets these benefits that she never paid for, how many others are in the same place? At a certain point, are there too many people taking from a pot into which they never contributed? What are the trade-offs that society has to make to enable each of these individuals to have these benefits. The concern is for the dignity, respect, and preservation (dare I say, conservation?) of the society. This is the macro view.

And you know what? Both of them have merit. Both have a LOT of merit. It's that eternal balance that we need to strike. And, no, I don't think ALL liberals ignore the societal impact, nor do I think Conservatives don't care about the individual. They do, just the way they express their care is very different.

I wonder if that is part of the challenge in helping everyone understand each other.