Thomas Sowell has written: Most people on the right have no problem understanding people on the left because many, if not most, were on the left themselves when they were younger. But many, if not most, people on the left find it inexplicable how any decent and intelligent person could be on the right.
I really enjoy having conversations with those who have a different view point than me. It challenges me to look at my own beliefs from another viewpoint and see if they will continue to hold up to scrutiny. I also love poking at the beliefs of others to see exactly where someone stands and for what reasons they have that stand. In my experience, liberals want to feel good about their decisions, but rarely will they go through to thinking about the ramifications of a certain course of action. I am more than willing to say that I am wrong, but you had better have all of your ducks in a row if you think my beliefs make me a bad person.
One of the most entertaining episodes involved a trip to Australia in which I was caught smack dab in the middle of a close-knit group of liberals who had never been challenged before.
Discussion I had in Australia with two young-ish (25-29) deer-eyed liberals, of course I bring up politics.
Australian Liberal 1: I can't believe what America is doing now (it's Fall of 2005, just a couple of years into Iraq). How is it possible that it's being supported. I've never even met a republican!
Me: You have now.
Aus. Lib. 1: Oh, my God. What? This is so weird.
Me: This whole day our group has been talking as you show us around Sydney, have I done anything to make you think I'm a bad person? Do I seem like a person who feeds the carcasses of the homeless to my pets? Republicans are people too, they don't rape and pillage people or third world countries for fun... often...
Aus. Lib. 2: Whatever! That's ridiculous. Republicans are cold hearted, they don't care about anything. They just think about business and don't even think about the homeless for instance.
Me: I would argue that I care more about the homeless than your typical Democrat. More than anything I want homeless people to get off of the street. I want them to sustain themselves with a job though, if at all possible. I don't want them to feel like they have to rely on handouts to survive in the long-term.
Hear me out. How do you most help a poor person on the street? Do you give them money for a meal, or do you help them out of their situation by encouraging them to be self sufficient. Which method keep the person from being poor a day, a week, or a year from now. Plus, if republicans care so much about money, who's going to buy our stuff, people with money or people living on the street? A person concerned about selling things is better off it more of the population can buy their crap. There is no benefit to keeping poor people poor. Plus, how do you do that? How do influence a person to not go to work every day? How do you influence them to not develope their skills? The conspiracy to keep poor people poor makes no sense, and it's impossible to even try to implement. Plus, who has enough power or influence to be able to do that?
Aus. Lib. 2: That's a cold hearted thing to do, just leaving someone in the street to fend for themselves. You're just blaming the victim.
Me: I'm not saying you let them go hungry, just make sure that you don't give it to them without some semblance of responsibility attached to it. Make them feel like they've earned it. For you to make money, you have to do something productive. For you to be self sustaining, you must be productive at some level. But remember there will always be the case of the truly downtrodden which must be helped. We can't let the truly handi-capped or infirm rot on the steet, republicans are in fact human in that regard.
Aus. Lib. 1: I've never thought about it that way.
Me: So am I still evil?
Reluctantly, these people conceded that I was, in fact, not entirely evil. They thought this at least until later that night when I started breaking out the "Dead Baby Jokes" (prepare to be seriously, seriously, offended/disgusted).
My overall point is this: from my perspective some major points for someone to feel content they need to feel secure, needed, and productive. Working hard at a job will almost always contribute to all of those points. There is so much more to life than just work (like epileptic, nursing home G-G-MILF porn). From this point of view giving a no-strings-attached handuot will not make someone better off in the long term. If you can attach a bit of self development with that handout, however, everyone wins.
How about mandating certain levels of work in exchange for government assistance? What would happen if college students with government subsidized loans had to put in 15-20 hours of work a month? What if anyone receiving food stamps or welfare had to work 10-20 hours a month? This work could be cleaning up ditches, maintaining government property, stuffing envelopes for the county, answering phones for a state/government agency, building/maintaining low income housing, or churning butter. Mmmmmm, socialist butter......
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