Here I go again. Now I am confused. I can’t remember if I am a Republican, Democrat, Independent, Trotsky-ite… I guess I’ll need a functional MRI to figure that one out.
Its bad enough that I have multiple voices having unrelated conversations going on in my head all day; these voices don’t seem to be talking with one another. I have to go to sleep at night to shut out the outside world for a while allowing these voices a chance to take turns and complete a thought. Having read the tread last night, I have slept on it. I find that my opinions on climate change are not only not my own, but belong to a subgroup of can’t change fanatics. How devastating.
Once upon a time I understood that labels such as Conservative (husbanding ideals of the past) and Liberal (free from restraint) were self-described narratives, agenda driven, and carried as placards in a war to influence public opinion. These labels filled the print and electronic media and used as insults, hurled as if paving blocks across a divide.
There does seem to be some distinction between Social Conservatism and Political Conservatism as there is Social Liberalism and Political Liberalism. Individually, one might self label as any combination of the four: Socially conservative and politically liberal: etc.
I tend to think that Social conservatism usually became a function of human aging. Men/Women with white hair are revered and speak as elders: viewed as one’s with lots of experience and dispensers of wisdom. Political conservatism seems to be imbued with fiscal issues.
Social Liberalism has a certain expedience quality to it; plow ahead for the cause is good, just, etc. Political Liberalism: not strictly literal nor exact; relativism.
Now here’s the rub. We have Political Conservatives saying that the government should stay out of people’s business. Social Conservatives saying that government needs to intervene in people’s bedrooms. Social Liberals charging ahead risking not only their own, but will to risk other’s well-being for “the” cause. And Political Liberals restraining people’s behavior.
We’re mixing and matching labels and behaviors until nothing makes sense to me.
I vote for doing away with canned labels; set down the metaphoric paving blocks, and go off on a tangent: investigate how nature works; bring technical expertise to energy collection, extraction, distribution, efficient utilization, and forego noble cause tirades. Here! Here! (another voice)