The Liberal View

I read a letter to the editor the other day in North Carolina’s Fayetteville Observer newspaper that made me roll my eyes. The point of the letter, by a liberal writer, was ‘why do conservatives vote against their own self-interest?’ His point, of course, was that voting Democrat was better for you personally.

And I now believe he is right. He is right in that he was unknowingly pointing out the very stark differences between liberals and conservatives. Liberals vote in their own self interest. Conservatives vote for what they believe is in the best interest of the nation as a whole.

I believe that is why you see more conservatives in the military. Soldiers, sailors, marines, coast guardsman and airmen clearly serve for a higher cause – that of the nation and of the people. Conservatives consistently vote, promote and use their money to help others. Statistics show that if liberals gave to charity in the same amounts as conservatives, that charitable giving would increase 40%.

Clearly, giving away one’s money is not in one’s own interest, yet conservatives do it. A lot more than liberals.

Clearly, putting one’s self in harm’s way, with bullets flying, bombs and rockets dropping, and mortars falling, and roadside bombs exploding, is not in one’s own interest. Yet conservatives do it. A lot more than liberals.

I heard a commentary some years back, shockingly on National Public Radio, that concerned the commentator’s son, who had joined the US Marines in a time of war. This young man had knowingly joined what is and was arguably America’s most elite regular military force with the knowledge that he would serve in one of two places, and likely both – Iraq and Afghanistan. The commentator was stunned as friends, colleagues and acquaintances acted shocked that this man’s son would “waste his life” by serving them and the nation!

“Couldn’t he get into college?”

“Why would he do such a thing?”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

These were typical comments he received. When in Liberal America did serving your country become a mistake?

So clearly, the letter writer was right, especially in the viewpoint of the American liberal. Conservatives do act, vote and give against their own self interest. That’s because they know that their own self interest is not as important as the interest of the nation.

And conservatives act accordingly.