While perusing the entrees in the pundit roundup, I ended up on a post by Jonathan Kay...
http://tinyurl.com/...
One section struck me...
As well as being a disastrous moment for American conservatives, this is also an epic turning point in the history of western ideas. Since World War II, the welfare state has made steady gains almost everywhere in the West, with the result that just about every form of risk known to mankind — from sickness, to unemployment, to poverty, to childbirth, to old age — has been socialized.
I think this quote captures one of the main differences between conservatives and progressives.
Conservatives see this as mainly a negative thing...citizens will turn into unambitious and lazy slackers, encouraged to continue to be such by the government supporting their slacker ways by giving them wealth taken from hard-working, successful citizens. This will discourage more and more citizens from being productive and will stifle individual effort and enterprise, as the natural inclination of humans is to spend all day in a hammock, sipping wine coolers.
Progressives see this as mainly a positive thing...citizens, feeling safe about the basics of life, will be able to achieve goals and aspirations they would be apprehensive about trying to achieve without this safety net. Society, as a whole, benefits when all its citizens feel they are secure enough to take the big leaps. Progressives believe that, if citizens know that if bad things happens, EVERYONE has their back, they will have the best chance at achieving their maximum potential.