A book by a guy named Jonathan Haidt just came out that describes what a lot of data says about the difference between conservatives and liberals. I tend to be pretty skeptical about liberal social research, but the conclusions of this work resonated with me. The premise is summed up in a quote from this article:
According to Haidt’s research, there are five things people care about:
- avoidance of harm
- fairness
- loyalty
- authority
- sanctity
Conservatives care about all five in equal measure and liberals care about only the first two. Here is a quote from the book, as transcribed by The American Conservative:
“It’s as though conservatives can hear five octaves of music, but liberals respond to just two, within which they have become particularly discerning.”
There is a sixth thing which the book claims people care about, but for which liberals have a fundamentally different definition than conservatives. That is liberty. That was particularly enlightening. Here is another quote from this first article I saw on the new book (I read three. The other two are here and here.).
Conservatives tend to view liberty as the notion of being left alone to pursue happiness in whatever way they choose. Liberals tend to view it as the act of creating a level playing field for society’s most vulnerable individuals.
This very much rings true. I need to think about whether this gives me any additional insight about why liberals act they way they act. At first blush, I think it is something that thoughtful people, maybe even some liberals, have intuitively known all along.
Betty Blonde #302 – 09/14/2009
Click here or on the image to see full size strip.
