True. As I see it, self interest and social interest (cooperation and working together for the benefit of all) are at odds and balanced in most of us. The two spectra: self <—-> society and conservative <—-> liberal seem to overlap almost entirely. The strong conservative sees his/her moral responsibility as maximizing benefits for him/herself and assuring that none of his/her benefits go to others. The strong liberal sees his/her moral responsibility as maximizing benefits for all and all sharing those benefits fairly equally.
Not sure if I agree here, Occam. What you’re describing as a conservative here, sounds to me more like a libertarian. I imagine that conservatives are probably much more supportive within their own group(s) than the liberals or libertarians. The liberals, OTOH, feel the need to distribute their resources among a wider chunk of the population. I guess a libertarian would be the only one here who is unwilling to help others.
That’s a problem with trying to be succinct—one often doesn’t include sufficient qualifying conditions.
I don’t know what the libertarians you have there are like, but around here they are at the extreme conservative end of the spectrum. Self-interest does include the family and local group but definitely not society in general. The libertarians I know are extremely supportive of their extended families and their close groups, but they just don’t want to pay ANY taxes that would be used for the general welfare.
Canada does seem to have a superior social/political culture, but surely it is too cold up there most of the time. But with global warming increasing… damn.
At least for now we have a superior women’s soccer team… USA! USA! USA!
The downtown is a ghost town and the rest looks very shabby. I think it may change one day (it has potential), but for the moment I try to avoid it the best I can.
And he would have gotten my cannibal joke, too.
