Liberals and Conservatives?

July 18, 2006

By trying to define conservatives by a single editorial statement or a stand on a single political issue, I'm afraid Mr. Chester Wronski--pardon the pun, please--is "Mr. Wrongski" in his letter-to-the-editor of the Hickory Daily Record on July 17. I've seen it proved over and over that political labels are wrong about as often as they are right.

If Mr. Wronski speaks for "liberals," he should pick an issue other than slavery to try to define the "conservatives" he so obviously disdains. I know of no conservative who would even try to defend slavery, on any grounds, for any reason. Slavery was wrong, and it was ended by Abe Lincoln's war that killed some 630,000 Americans. It probably could have been ended by using eminant domain to "condemn" them in the greater public interest--yes, as "property," defined by the US Supreme Court--spending a million dollars to buy them all, and then setting them free.

Lincoln wanted to send slaves back to Africa, to Liberia, specifically. Just curious...Was The Great Emancipator one of your "liberals," Mr. Wronski? He was a Republican. How's that for a political label?

Mr. Wronski frequently uses "equal" and "equality" as championed by liberals, but he ignores that every civilation since the dawn of time has had its "classes." There are workers, for instance, and there are those who dream, think, analyze, plan, organize, supervise, etc., called "entrepreneurs." And there are others in between. What he should tout is "equal opportunity," exactly what most conservatives I know espouse.

He brands conservatism with "the poor are poor because they are lazy." Indeed, Mr. Wronski, some poor people are lazy--many more, though, are just not motivated, or haven't been taught to dream about what their opportunities might be. Through education, many poor people have found many opportunities--including me. But the functional illiteracy rate in this area is what, 30-40%? Did conservatives somehow deny those folks an education, Mr. Wronski?

With top-quality community colleges in North Carolina, there's no excuse today for a young person--or an older person wanting a new career--to miss out on an education. Scholarship funds go begging year after year, and plenty of government programs are available to help finance a college education.

Much of the answer for reducing the portion of "economically disadvantaged," or those looking to others for subsistence, is parenting. We have six in our family, and all six of us have a bachelor's degree, plus four have at least one master's degree, and one is working on her PhD. Our parents cajoled and encouraged my wife and me to higher educations, and we've tried to do the same with our children.

There's your "level playing field," Mr. Wronski, better education. But the truth is, most people don't want a level playing field. They always seek competitive advantages over their fellow man, in every aspect of life. They look for advantages, and they try to exploit them. Among plants and animals, Darwin called this "natural selection." I think that principle applies to people, too.

Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, and whatever other labels you want to use are distorted often, Mr. Wronski, and I'm afraid we all do it. Most people simply want "what's best" for themselves, their families and their neighbors; what we're all really arguing about in the political process is "how to do it."

I am conservative on a lot of issues, especially when it comes to governments spending my money for me. But I'm liberal, even libertarian, on a significant number of social issues. But some people are "politically lazy," Mr. Wronski, and that hurts everybody. When some people don't bother to register to vote, to find out what the different candidates stand for, or to vote, there's no other word for it but "laziness."

Elections are how democracies make decisions, how majorities express their will without revolution, and the last national vote left George Bush in power as president. Let's try to remember, when you criticize and mock him, Mr. Wronski, you are criticizing and mocking the expressed will of the majority of the American electorate.

DENNIS A. BENFIELD