How the Hypocrite Leftwing Argues

[Whateverist]

I think it is important for more people to hear from you and others who have become disenchanted with the republican party and its extremist policies. What might really help would be to identify what it is that attracted you to the party in the first place. Anything you can say that would help me understand the mindset of a conservative would really help me to understand the other side. I can't believe they're all callous or evil people but it is hard for me to fathom what positive motives move them.

I was raised in a sheltered environment, a wealthy suburb as the son of two workaholic parents. In a way, my family represented the ideals of capitalism, or at least that's how I saw it. No one could doubt they worked their asses off for all that we had and they raised me with a similar work ethic. The ideals of Reaganomics had a strong appeal. Give to those business owners and they'll hire more people, producing more wealth. I also initially had some socially conservative ideologies but with no religious root, they were quickly abandoned.

Getting out of my sheltered home into the wider world in college was the first time some of my faith in the Invisible Hand was shaken. I made friends with all walks of life and, what do you know, poor people aren't necessarily lazy. How about that?

Going to business graduate school, in Dallas no less, was a re-indoctrination for me. I'm not saying a business education isn't also useful but at times it was a bit like going to a theology school. I learned about "perfect, rational markets" that are impossible to fool, how LBOs (heavy debt, leveraged buy outs) of the 80s were good for the economy and how raising the minimum wage increases unemployment. I emerged a True Believer.

So my identity as a Republican was a sincere belief that what was good for Wall Street was also good for Main Street. The rising tide would lift all boats and prosperity would benefit all of society.

Losing my religion was a gradual process, like with any conventional faith such as Christianity. First, there was the bullying nature of Newt and other Republicans at the time. Then, there was the false prediction of how Clinton's raised taxes would kill the economy. The actual economy of the 90s flew in the face of my ideology.

I voted independent in 1996 (Ross Perot, and yes, I knew he had no chance but Bob Dole was "too old and too evil"). I voted Democrat in 2000 (Bush was "too dumb"). I officially re-registered as Democrat at some point around 2003. The move was a gradual one, one that ran over about 10 years.

So it sounds like a self-confirming hypothesis. You grow up watching your hardworking parents accumulate wealth and being told that hard work is all it takes. Never mind opportunity or educational expectations within your family. It is simply hard work so those who have less are lazy. And, conversely, those who have more worked harder and therefore deserve it. Simple.

Somehow the role of good fortune in addition to hard work is ignored. It is hard to see why the republican party seems to work so hard to prevent an evening of the playing field. I suppose if they acknowledge the need for an even playing field it would undercut their belief that hard work is the whole story.

Thank you for sharing but it doesn't exactly provide a reasonable rationale for conservatism, does it? I wonder if it is possible to do so without assuming a necessary relationship between hard work and success.