The political divide between Conservatives and Liberals is growing wider by the year and people on both sides are uneasy about where continuing conflicts will lead.
It isn’t just about labels, it’s about ideologies – the values and beliefs that drive us all to live a certain way.
Liberals largely favor government stepping in to fill the gap for the disadvantaged — and wealthier citizens shouldering more of a tax burden to fund those programs.
Conservatives believe the founders wanted charitable organizations and churches to take care of the poor and infirm instead of growing government to do so. They knew that, without a stranglehold of regulations, free markets would reward those who came up with innovative ideas and took the risk to start a business; thereby, providing jobs and furthering economic development.
And then there is the issue of fairness. The Heritage Foundation, among other economist groups, reports the top 10 percent of income earners pay 68 percent of all federal income taxes, while earning 45 percent of all income. The bottom 50 percent pay 3 percent but earn 12 percent of income.
It isn’t about arbitrarily cutting funding to welfare and other social programs, it’s about the fact that America is now borrowing 40 cents out of every $1 it spends and we are going to end up with a collapsed economy if we continue down this path.
Despite our differing ideologies, Mark and I work well together. We respect each other, even in argument, and believe there is a check and balance to having both points of view in the newsroom.
I respect his humanness, his belief that mankind has always found a way to work through a crisis and will do so again.
He respects my love of the principles of personal liberty upon which America was founded, which has made it a beacon for the oppressed.
We get along because we validate each other’s opinions and beliefs. At the end of the day, that might be the only way to find a workable solution to this nation’s problems.
She thinks I’m a Liberal, I think she’s a Conservative.
I don’t deny leaning to the left, but like most labels “Liberal” does little to describe the contents of my thinking.
I can see in my own views a shift over time, not in the core principles that I hold but in my understanding of the world and the role we play in it.
Take poverty, a subject I’ve often written about under the advice “write about what you know.”
I’ve seen the huge, positive impact a financially struggling student can get from state and federal grants.
I’ve seen doors open and lives truly transformed by government-funded opportunities, and I’ve seen how critical food banks and programs can be when an individual or family is in crisis.
I’ve seen the mentally ill housed and cared for in a structured, safe environment.
I’ve also seen those who squander these opportunities or wander aimlessly from hand-out to hand-out.
“Working the system” is a fine art, and many have mastered it.
Government seems to work primarily by throwing money at a problem, and there are plenty hopeful for a piece of the pie, not just those receiving services but among those who want to supply those services as well. Poverty can be big business.
How do we solve the problem? A simplistic conservative approach is to stop funding poverty reduction and assistance programs. A simplistic liberal approach is fund more poverty reduction programs, audit for waste.
There is truth in both approaches.
Cut funding, then community groups may step up and fill the gaps. Some may be gang-related or religious extremists, that being the dominant community in some areas. A risk worth taking?
Even with the programs we have now many kids go hungry.
Fund more programs, that sounds good too. We lose local control, but gain economy of scale. Everybody eats, and most have a roof over their heads.
On the down side, there is a lot of waste and abuse and we go in debt
The labels haven’t worked, we need to find real, workable solutions.
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