Why I Love Conservatives

Why, as a liberal, would I love conservatives? Don't they stand against everything I'm for? Well, no, actually, they don't.

For one, I have many friends and family members who consider themselves conservatives. For another, I agree with many conservative positions.

Fiscal responsibility? Check.
Foreign policy restraint? Check.
Freedom to act as my conscious dictates? Check.
Rule of law and ethical behavior? Check, check.
Economy is currently problematic? Check.
Kids are growing up differently now than they used to, and that presents new problems? Check.
Limited government size? Check.
There are too many abortions done in the US? Check.

"Wait, wait. But you said you're a liberal." Yep. I'm also for universal health care, higher taxes on higher incomes (yes, I'm for raising my own taxes) to help the poor, subsidized higher education, regulation in financial markets, and freedom from surveillance by my own government. I disagree with conservatives on these points.

I can't demonize people I love who share many of the same positions I do. What I recognize is that we agree on a large set of problems. We even agree on a large subset of possible solutions to those problems. In my experience, conservatives are not hateful, selfish, bad people. Some liberals will say those things - they don't speak for me.

In my experience, conservatives are idealists: in an ideal world, everyone would work hard. The rich would help those who could not help themselves. Corporations would care as much for the water quality around their chemical plant as they did about their bottom line. Young men would not impregnate young women and then skip town. Jail time would be a sufficient deterrent to stop violent crime.

I am, instead, a pragmatist. Some peope don't work hard. Some rich people do not do much to help those around them who are less fortunate. There are a lot of young people who make foolish decisions about how they use their procreative powers. Given this state of affairs - that we're all human and make mistakes - what remedies make sense? Should a young woman who has a child at 16 years old be punished by society for the rest of her life? Or should [the collective] we help her to get back on her feet? What can [the collective] we do to assist the rich to assist the poor?

My inclination is to seek ways to assist. Too often, it seems that the conservative political movement wants to find ways to stop assisting, to stop being proactive. That's not what I'm about. We have problems to face, and we have to face them together, as long as we're all alive.