The Core Difference in Worldviews

I have always thought that the true core (of conservatism) was the belief or thought that human nature is, on the whole, slightly to the "bad" side of the center mark. That is, humans' inherent evil is stronger than their inherent good. All else flows from that.

And the liberal ideal is based on the premise that the good in humanity is greater than the bad, the evil, and will triumph given the opportunity.

The liberal impulse to try to ensure that every human has that opportunity.

Some see this slight difference of opinion as being on a continuum of love versus hate. The labels matter not too much as long as we are able to agree on their basic meaning. For example, I personally bridle at using the word "evil" due to its heavy religious connotations. However, if I use it, I can be sure that people know what I mean. Some few might imagine a corporeal devil prodding at their person, but most would simply understand the idea.

This, by the way, is why even the purest, least corrupted conservatism never, ever makes anything in the world better for humans on the whole.

One of the efforts we see in modern politics is not to sway the voter with ideas, but to scare them towards the "conservative" range of the spectrum. Once there, their minimal political participation affords the masters of capital the populist forces they need in order to continue to dominate human activities in their favor.

For example, it is easy to keep pay rates low when a large portion of the population has been convinced that "people are lazy (bad) and only work when they're hungry."

8/14/22

© Huw Powell
printed 29 March 2024

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