By Peter Burrows elburropete@gmail.com
Sean Hannity hosted a forum of 14 college kids last fall, seven liberal and seven conservative, and if you saw the show, you came away either optimistic for the future of America thanks to the articulate young liberals, or deeply pessimistic for the future of America thanks to the articulate young liberals.  

Somebody asked me, “What about the conservative kids?” and I said I didn’t pay as much attention to them as, terrible me, I was looking for things to buttress my bias against liberals, and it was rich pickings.  The liberal kids were so certain of themselves! So self-righteous!

They reminded me of the cynical observation that our colleges excel at graduating ignoramuses with high opinions of themselves.  That’s a little unfair, as any nineteen or twenty-year old who agrees to appear on a TV talk show obviously has a lot of self-confidence and maturity, and all of the kids, liberal and conservative, were very well spoken.

As an aside, I would love to know the occupations of the parents of each of the students. I’d wager that a majority of the liberal kids had parents with government jobs.  

One liberal young lady was later quoted to the effect that the show illustrated the fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives, which is that liberals are compassionate, caring people, while conservatives are basically selfish, and care more about what something costs.  I’ve tried in vain to find her exact statement, but it doesn’t matter.  She’s a typical liberal, believing liberals are more compassionate and more caring than conservatives.

She couldn’t be more wrong.

When it comes to “compassion,” there are two differences between liberals and conservatives.  The first is that conservatives do not think compassion is involved in government poverty programs. Liberals are puzzled by this assertion.  “Why, of COURSE it’s compassionate to give people food stamps, medical care, shelter and so on, you heartless conservative cretin.”

In fact, this self-flattering “compassion” that liberals are so proud of is proof that their vanity has blinded them to a simple fact: It’s easy to be compassionate with somebody else’s money.  Using government taxation to fund whatever liberals feel is a “good thing” is not compassion, it is simply a manifestation of the collectivist and totalitarian mentality that is at the heart of the liberal soul.

Furthermore, it’s the easy way out.  Those vague feelings of guilt that many of us, not just liberals, have about how fortunate we are relative to so many around the world and around the block, can be stilled by supporting government-funded charities.  Nary a second glance at that fella lying on the sidewalk. Being a compassionate liberal is a super-charged version of “I gave at the office.”

They never stop to think that maybe more good could be done if people kept the money that was taxed from them.  Perish the thought.  That would call into question the moral and intellectual superiority that is so fundamental to liberalism, call into question their bedrock belief that government is a force for good, even if occasionally guided by flawed human beings, Stalin or Mao, for instance.

Gosh, their INTENTIONS were good and INTENTIONS are what counts in the liberal mind. More on that in Part Three.