WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?

I’m trying to understand the exteme conservative mind, and after considerable reflection the conclusion I reach is that it is driven by a combination of fear and insecurity.  Almost all popular conservative policies and ideas have a negative connotation.  They aspire to deny or take something away from others.  They do not want women to have the right to choose in regards to abortion.  They do not want to allow gay men and women the right to marry.  They not only want to restrict welfare and food stamps, but they want to demonize and punish the recipients.  They are against the science of global warming, and they dislike unions.  They refuse to allow Muslims into our country. They are afraid, almost obsessed, of people getting something they don’t deserve.  They would rather deny help to many, so the few do not get undeserved help.  This fear renders them incapable of offering forgiveness, i.e. amnesty, so they support policies that would tear apart families and punish children, policies devoid of any compassion or caring for fellow human beings.   They are willing break up families in their eagerness to deport illegal immigrants.  One cannot avoid hearing the harshness in the voices offering policies that demean so many citizens of this country, while they benefit the wealthy and the powerful.  There is meanness to their tone and name calling, blaming the poor for being poor, and the needy for being needy. In their minds, people are poor because they are lazy, and if everyone adopted Ayn Rand’s attitude there would be no poor people.

 They not only strive to cut funding to education, but they ridicule the educated, and mock science.  Their America seems to consist only of their “base”, and their extremism eclipses any meaningful presentation or discussion of the full compliment of conservative ideas and policies.  

Together, these positions suggest a very narrow worldview that readily embraces a rigid, fundamental and authoritarian type of faith.  “Fiscal responsibility” trumps compassion.  Extreme conservatives appear to be fearful of losing something they value; wealth, position, or prestige.  At the same time, they are fearful that others may get something they do not deserve (think welfare recipients).

Liberalism’s openness to change frightens conservatives who cling to the comfort and security of the familiar.  I believe they are afraid of a new world and new ideas that takes them out of their comfort zone.  They need the security of the past, a past that has been kind to them, if not the rest of the citizenry.  And they hide their fear and insecurity behind the giant screens of, Christian fundamentalism, the evils of “big government”, and the myth of the self-made man.

Taxes have been demonized, stripped of all the civic services they allow our government to provide, because government itself is evil.  This promotes their real agenda, enhancement of the establishment and the moneyed corporations, by preventing much needed government regulations to protect us from the unscrupulous actions of too big to fail banks and industries.  (Unfortunately their “liberal” colleagues often join them, as they kiss the asses of their cash-giving supporters.)  They want a 19^th century government to serve us in the 21^st century.

This extreme thinking not only goes far beyond classic conservative thinking, it threatens our country with its “my way or no way” attitude.  Valuable conservative policies and ideas are lost amidst all the inflammatory rhetoric.  We are not a country of conservatives, or liberals.  We are a country of conservatives and liberals, and to succeed we must find a way to respectfully serve both.

Extremism, conservative or progressive is understandable, and even healthy, but only when accompanied by a willingness to compromise.