Conservatives Understand Liberals Better Than Liberals Understand Conservatives

Nick Kristoff summarizes recent research on the moral compass:

Moderates and conservatives were adept at guessing how liberals would answer [moral] questions. Liberals, especially those who described themselves as “very liberal,” were least able to put themselves in the minds of their adversaries and guess how conservatives would answer.

… For liberals, morality is largely a matter of three values: caring for the weak, fairness and liberty. Conservatives share those concerns (although they think of fairness and liberty differently) and add three others: loyalty, respect for authority and sanctity.

…

Another way of putting it is this: Americans speak about values in six languages, from care to sanctity. Conservatives speak all six, but liberals are fluent in only three.

This actually speaks to a position I’ve been taking in classes for about 20 years. In economics, I stress that the end result of helping the weak is a central goal of most politics, and that liberty is economically beneficial.* And I emphasize that it is a mistake to think about policy decisions made by different groups as differing on these points; I’ve never felt that they did.

* I also emphasize that economics doesn’t have much to say about fairness.

Technorati Tags: conservative,liberal,care,weak,fairness,liberty,sanctity,loyalty,respect

Comments

[Investment plan]

yes, I am agreed with you that economics doesn’t have much to say about fairness,but what do you think it should be for global economy?

[Henkey]

Ask a liberal for an ooiinpn, and they tell you something they believe is true for everyone. Ask a liberal if they are more caring than others, they say yes, ask a liberal if they have better ideas, and they say yes, ask a liberal if they should control others by taxing their earnings and using the money for their particular pet programs, and they will say yes, and add that their ideas do lots of good for people.Lilberals view themselves as superior, intellectually and educationally, and that they have all the answers.Conservatives believe you can make better decisions with your money, that you have a right to keep what you earn, that you can have ideas that others may not agree with but it's okay. Conservatives are actually more tolerant of different ideas than are Liberals.Liberals have their roots in the old Democrat party of slave owners in the south, who did very little for blacks and wanted to keep slavery going even after the civil war. Conservatives have their roots in the Republican party, the party of anti-slavery, the party that fought against civil rights abuses and against the democrats and later dixiecrats that tried to institutute such things as separate but equal or whites only services and facilities.Don't let liberals fool you into believing they are anything more than wolves in sheeps clothing. They do NOT have your best interest in mind, that's why they want to remove guns, remove your money, and tell you how to live, raise the price of fuel, and insert government control into virtually every aspect of your lives.Liberalism used to mean independent much like today's Libertarian party, but over the years, Liberal has taken on a new form, it's big government, elitist behavior, know-it-all attitudes, and nobody should be responsible for their own actions, everything is relative, it's called moral relativism, and can be used by liberals to explain any behavior, regardless of how damaging it might be to others.Beware of Liberals, they are dishonest and greedy.

[David Tufte]

Harsh, but broadly consistent with my views. I think you can tell a lot about someone's politics by looking at factors outside of politics 1) their interest in central control, 2) their ability to sit still and not bug others. You put those two together, and you get mostly Democrats.