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Welcome to the Bizzaro World
Introduction
I was pondering today. I'm a bleeding heart liberal living with 700 club christian conservative parents. Needless to say, we don't see eye to eye on many details. And yet we do share certain ideals. We are well educated and think critically. In general we both want to see less poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, and war in the world. I believe my parent's methods will bring about those unpleasant things. My parents believe my methods will bring about those unpleasant things. Both of our motivations are similar, but the method to reach those goals is different. Which one is better? That is the dilemma when decent people come to different conclusions. Obviously I think the liberal method is better, but why? This article will share the insight into the conservative viewpoint I have received from my parents and explain why I feel it is not only wrong, but dangerous!
The Difference
Ultimately, the difference between our vision is where the compassion is. Liberals want compassion in the system and greed in the individual. This is manifested in "big government" social programs such as unemployment insurance and social security. Their programs create an environment in which more individuals feel confident enough to exercise their greed by starting new businesses. They feel confident because if they fail (which 95% of new businesses do in the first five years) they have a net to catch them. The safty net runs from the money from businesses while businesses are encouraged to grow under the net, so they are mutually supportive. Liberals also wanted the government to give aid to the tsunami victims and even wanted to use military transports when civilian models were in short supply. In general, the idea is that if the system (or the government) takes care of people who fall on hard times, individual charity won't be necessary.
Conservatives however, have a profound distrust of "the system", so they want less of it. In this case the system would be the government, which they want as minimalist as possible. However, they trust people (and the businesses they own), so they feel it should be up to the people (and businesses) to show compassion. This is evident in their economic plans. They feel charity should only be made by individuals through private charities. They even disagreed with the government stepping in for the tsunami victims, believing individual donations should cover it all. To my parent's credit, they did make some substancial personal donations. They also feel the minimum wage should be decreased for the good of the businesses. "It sucks for the worker, but you have to ensure the company survives. It's a dog eat dog world out there. Remember, society owes you nothing but the right to starve to death." Ultimately, the system is based on competition and greed while individual effort is based on compassion and cooperation.
The Bizarro World
They both seem like valid but mutually exclusive methods on the surface. What we should do is take the best of each and discard the rest, right? Unfortunately there are more factors. It's time to factor in religion. Not all religion mind you, just a few specific types.
You see, dogmatic Christianity imparts some ideas that mix with the conservative mindset in unhealthy ways. Specifically it is the idea that this life is only preparation for the afterlife. All that matters is how you act and your ability to produce because all possessions in this world are lost during the crossover. They view this world as some kind of training. This makes the goal to become as good as you possibly can be. The good you are strive for is to be a good "slave to righteousness", a productive worker bee that can bring the master great wealth. This training will make you a better servant of god when you are with him. You will be able to create many wonders when death has destroyed the worldly systems and their wealthy controllers. By learning to be super productive here, they will create a better afterlife.
Of course, you train yourself the same way you exercise. You lift heavy weights. The harder the exercise is, the stronger you become. It is that strength that they seek. Thus, anything that "adds weight" to your existence in this world is a good thing. Since the wealthy will perish, there is no need to worry about social injustice. In fact, social injustice is a good thing! If you are poor, you will learn the value of hard work. If you fall on hard times or are discriminated against, you will learn the value of perseverance.
Welcome to the bizzaro world. In the bizzaro world, to help someone is really to hurt them. In the bizzaro world, to hurt someone is really to help them. In the bizzaro world, pain, suffering, and injustice are the crucibles that burn away your impurities. In the bizzaro world, pain, suffering, and injustice are good and wholesome. In the bizzaro world, pain, suffering, and injustice are family values. The world is hell. The world is pain and suffering. The world is dog eat dog. It's for your own good. It builds character. You'll be glad for it when you reach heaven.
Now, do they think in those terms? Maybe not consciously. But it subconciously infiltrates almost everything they do. In fact, when they see someone complain of social injustice they can get down right caustic. Their opinion on minorities boils down to, "Most of us aren't actively trying to hold you down anymore. What more do you want from us? Your poverty is your own fault, so get to work you lazy sluggards!"
Do you think that my conclusion is a bit of a stretch? I don't, and I have a good reason. I've been to a world where they not only think along those lines, they proudly announce that they do.
Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body
That's the slogan of the US Marines. Doesn't that just give you warm fuzzies all over? I enlisted in the army, but I didn't make it through boot camp. While I was there I lived in this world view to the extreme. Boot camp is a cold, cruel place. There is no mercy from the system, ever. Any support must come form the people, your battle buddies. This is where the life-long friendships form, right? It's from helping your buddies overcome hell. The soldiers help each other, right? You give everything for the team, right?
Wrong. You see, I got sick as soon as I was in boot camp. I was vomiting and everything. I could not drink. I could not eat. And that meant I didn't have the strength to keep up. I was resented, plain and simple. I was not helped because I was in trouble. I was only boosted long enought to prevent a redo because I couldn't keep up. The glares and shouts made clear my buddy's motivations. People called me insane for drinking the few sips of water I could keep in my stomach outside of designated drinking time. People called me a fool for reporting my dehydration induced heat exhaustion before I passed out. When the drill sergeant said to have something you had it, even if it meant stealing one from someone else and letting him take the fall.
The worst is yet to come. After I was removed from the training, I saw a few new recruits getting off of the cattle cars, running around in terror as they began their first day of training. I laughed at them. I fucking laughed at them. It felt good to see others suffer, and that shames me.
Double Major
After I was finally out of boot camp, I spent another week before I was officially released from the military. Only after my parents pointed it out did I realize I was sick. It took medicine and two weeks before I got better, and I still had drainage for another two weeks after that. Perhaps this disease cost me boot camp, perhaps it did not. Now I'm glad I didn't make it. Instead of a career, I got perspective.
You see, the result of the boot camp world is that the strong are strengthened and the weak are destroyed. Individuals learn how to give everything to the system while being shit on in return. Boot camp is the unadulterated core of conservative thinking. And in that human made hell I learned that misery does not breed love or compassion. I learned that misery loves company. Misery breeds anger and aggression! My few days in boot camp even for a time turned me into a creature I now loath. Suffering breeds suffering, and the wish to see it in others.
And now I am in the opposite environment. I am living with my parents as I finish my college education. We respect each other even if we do not agree. We enjoy those interests that we share. And I'm in college earning a double major in computer science and math. In fact, I just got a A in a summer calculus course. It was only a month long. I am flourishing now. I never could hope to make it through boot camp, but with a little support I can do great things and make a good contribution to society. Now I even think about how I can bring this same help to others.
Conclusion
The idea of an individual who is completely separate from his environment is a fiction. The concept of a person unaffected by the groups and factions he joins is lie. It doesn't work that way. Humans are social creatures. Birds of a feather flock together, both ways. You become like those you group with and seek to group with those like yourself. The truth is that you want others to be like yourself. In an environment of suffering, you will take in that suffering and then you will want to see it in others. In an environment of compassion, you will take in that compassion and want to see it in others. The conservative method is responcible for the dog eat dog world that they dislike. In a world view that worships strength, you will hate weakness of any kind, in yourself and in others. You will let the weak perish, even if it's only a temporary disease. It is inevitable. I was an anarchist when I was in boot camp. I abhorred the idea of imposing on others, but I could not stop it myself from doing it.
Choose your side carefully.
--- Landon Fox, The Blue Savant
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