Posted by
Conservative Swordfighters Club on Friday, July 25, 2008 4:39:21 PM
In the book review section of the August Oprah magazine, is an article titled “The Kindness Manifesto: Why we need to care now.” It’s a short review of the book “The Samaritan’s Dilemma” by Deborah Stone.
The reviewer (F.P.) begins with:
“Quite Frankly, I’ve never understood why it might be a bad idea to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and help the poor.”
This is a silly, self-serving statement.
It’s silly because the implication is that conservatives don’t want to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and help the poor.
The statement is also self-serving. It’s like saying, “I don’t know about you, but I believe in goodness,” or “As for me, I think murder is a crime.”
Well, duh.
The reviewer continues:
“But the next time I find myself in an argument with someone who believes that welfare and public education are ruining our society, and that universal health insurance will destroy our medical system…”
The writer started out by ascribing to conservatives the characteristics of not wanting to feed the hungry, heal the sick, or help the poor. Which is ridiculous.
Then he (or she) gets more specific (and less ridiculous), by stating that conservatives believe that welfare and public education are ruining our society, and that universal health insurance will destroy our medical system.
This is an exaggeration, but a much more reasonable statement.
Conservatives DO think that welfare, public education, and government-controlled universal health insurance are bad.
But the reviewer’s statement is a bit of an exaggeration; we don’t necessarily believe that public education is “ruining our society,” or that universal health insurance will go so far as to “destroy” our medical system.
This goes to the heart of the problem of the liberal-conservative debate, as stated so clearly by Dennis Prager: Conservatives believe liberals are wrong, but liberals believe conservatives are bad.
Another way to put it: Liberals ascribe bad intentions to conservatives; and conservatives don’t ascribe bad intentions to liberals.
--Swordfish