I write a monthly column for a handful of CO newspapers and have had a grand time shaking the cage a bit here and there hoping, just hoping, that a few people would challenge their conservative worldviews. It's been one year and 13 columns and I wanted to take a moment to recap some thoughts which will go into the next column.
Thoughts, Kossacks?
This Columnist’s Findings
When I started writing the Horizon’s column one year and 13 columns ago I had hoped to provide a voice for evidence-based reason that favored the liberal perspective, which would balance the typical conservative columns that I find to be short on critical thinking and long on outrage, fear and groupthink.
With the objective of highlighting that there is far more that unites both political parties than divides them, we could explore these areas and pragmatically work together if we could just set aside most of the outrageous misinformation and propaganda that is fed to us by our chosen media sources. Well, after witnessing another absurd election cycle where many middle class Americans chose to vote against their own economic self-interests, reading far too much political commentary and carefully considering reader feedback from this monthly column, I’ve come to five conclusions and one key caveat.
First the caveat: I want to clearly state that I don’t have a beef with an honest conservative platform and those who support that. I’ve voted that direction myself. However, in today’s circus-like Republican party very little remains of true conservatism. So, for this column, I’m going to refer to those that I do have an issue with as "Conservatives"–with a capital "C", and whom, roughly estimated, comprise about 60% of the GOP constituency and over 90% of elected Republicans. Here we go:
• Conservatives prefer mythology over empirical evidence
• A Conservative’s world is black and white
• Conservatives value victory over good governance
• A Conservative’s allegiance to ideology trumps all
• Conservatives are unoriginal thinkers
The Conservative mind seems to be attracted to a truth that cannot be disproven, which accounts for the much higher degree of religious and political fundamentalism within the flock of GOP faithful. This is a faith-based reality, which values mythology over empirical evidence and often sees secular science as its enemy, which is evidenced by the almost complete absence of US scientists who self-describe as Republicans. Actual empirical data inevitably forces an intellectually honest person to rethink their positions and to subscribe to an evolving worldview, which is composed of glorious shades of gray.
Changing one’s mind when faced with new information is considered a strength from a liberal perspective; not so much from the Conservative view. A recent example of putting greater credence in a biased narrative than peer-reviewed science was illustrated by a 2010 Pew poll, which included the question, "Is their solid evidence the earth is warming?" A "Yes" response was recorded for 79% of Democrats, 56% of Independents and only 38% of Republicans. Scientific data on climate change is not partisan and the evidence is not ambiguous. It should concern all of us that almost two out of three Republicans don’t believe in this evidence-based reality.
We’re still digging out of a decade of Conservative rule and the thoroughly predictable carnage it wrought: staggering debt, unnecessary wars, corporate sponsored deregulation and subsequent corporate malfeasance, privatization of profits and socialization of costs, and no honest effort at sound governance. I say predictable because similar histories existed for the 12 years under Bush 1 & 2, the eight years under Reagan, and our current crop of GOP leaders are openly promising more of the same.
To drive this point home consider that a large majority of Conservatives honor President Reagan for his fiscally conservative policies. The actual history shows that the national debt almost tripled under his watch. This same act of hypocrisy is happening today as the latest war cry from Conservatives is focused on debt reduction while simultaneously ignoring the bloated defense budget and strong arming the Obama administration to agreeing to a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% of wage earners, which balloons the deficit by over $400B and has very little stimulative effect on our sputtering economy.
Will this evidence of philosophically inconsistent behavior change a Conservative’s memory of the past or allegiance to his or her ideology? Not a chance. Nothing is more important than supporting the home team and beating the other team. Facts be damned.
I had hoped that by providing examples of common ground and purpose, pragmatic solutions and the occasional bit of referenced evidence that this column would encourage some honest discussions and perhaps even motivate a few conservative people to challenge their assumptions and information sources. Perhaps this column has but the evidence doesn’t support those hopeful outcomes. Not once have I received a response to that effect.
Reader feedback has fallen equally into two distinct buckets: "Thank you for using factual information, common sense and honesty. I agree with you and thank you for writing." Or, "You are an idiot liberal who doesn’t understand the real world." What is actually entertaining–because the responses usually support my points–is that the typical Conservative email response to a Horizon’s column is a poorly written litany of emotionally delivered talking points that are straight from the perpetually outraged talking heads at Fox News and conservative radio.
If there are any readers who have been prompted to question their assumptions, challenge their information sources or apply their own critical thinking due to these columns, it would be greatly appreciated if you would pen a response to either your paper and/or me.