George Will, op-ed columnist and polite T.V. talking head, appeared on The Colbert Report the other night. Now, I’m not one of those people who relies on Mr. Colbert and Jon Stewart for my news, but in response to the question, “What do you think the difference is between conservatives and liberals?” Mr. Will replied with a clear and concise answer that was, in my view, newsworthy for its honesty:
“The competing values are freedom and equality. . . . Conservatives tend to favor freedom and are willing to accept inequality as an outcome from a free market. Liberals tend to favor equality of outcome and are willing to sacrifice and circumscribe freedom in order to get it.”
Now, I’d go so far as to suggest that this qualifies as “something we always new but could never get anybody to admit.” Given Mr. Will’s air-tight conservative credentials (which of course may be a tad weaker today, owing to his aforementioned honesty and his confession later in the interview of religious agnosticism!), can we enter it into the record that that “something we always knew” has finally been admitted?
Anyhow, leaving aside for the moment the argument over whether freedom or equality is the higher aim (and whether freedom must in fact be sacrificed and circumscribed for the sake of equality), can we at least expect that millions of people will now wake up, smell the Perrier-Jouet 2000 Belle Epoque, and realize what they’ve been voting for for the last forty years?
5 June 2008 at 10:33 am
Fascinating, Dwight. I remember, years ago, a republican lawyer explaining the difference b/w dems and repubs to a high school friend of mine. He said, “Well, democrats are kind of like Robin Hood. They take from the rich and give to the poor. Republicans are more on the side of the sheriff who probably earned it ‘fair and square.’”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the story’s called “Robin Hood” because he’s the good guy, right?
26 June 2008 at 2:20 pm
I guess this is why so many conservatives are so disgusted with the president, yes? Because he seems to be working the inverse of both positions; that is, he seems to be willing to restrict freedoms and support “inequality as an outcome from a free market.”