My wife and I were watching the most recent Republican and Democratic presidential debates, and when we got to the Democratic debates, she asked me "why do the Republicans seem so much smarter?"
I had to explain to her that the Dems are usually just as smart, but because they rely on emotional reasoning, coupled with the liberal tendency to be subjective about morality and truth, they fail to use their reason in an intelligent manner. So while they MEAN well, they actually don’t have cogent, coherent, workable plans, and tend to discuss solutions at the level of practice, rather than principle, which makes for more heat than light.
I went on to explain that Republicans tend to rely on logic to the
point of being heartless, which is why they err on immigration. Also,
conservatives rely on "conserving" timeless principle, and in general,
refer to unchanging, objectively true morals and principles, which IS
smart, as long as they don’t do so to the point of being inflexible and
unable to address new situations. Relying on principle means that their foundational assumptions, when followed logically, lead to practical working solutions, not the absurdities that arise from many liberal assumptions about man, government, and religion.
Now, I know I am generalizing, and for sure, some Republican plans have been lame-brained, and some liberal ones have some merit. And to be honest, I am sure that liberal plans arise from their principles, but I suspect that their principles are suspect. As a general rule, I find these quotes to reflect some general truths about liberalism and conservatism:
Hence the quote:
If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart.
If you’re
not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.
"A neoconservative is a liberal who’s been
mugged by reality. A neoliberal is a liberal who’s been mugged by
reality but has refused to press charges." (Irving Kristol)
