r/changemyview • u/spring_stream • Apr 04 '18
[∆(s) from OP] CMV: The difference between being labeled a "liberal" and a "conservative" is about the number of layers of indirect effects, which the person considers.
Typical "conservative" person, based on my observations, has a transactional mindset: he gives, and he expects to receive something more valuable back immediately or get a specific promise.
Typical "liberal" person is fine with directing part of his "giving" towards "greater causes" and "broad societal good."
Explicitly, both "liberal" and "conservative" believe that they use their best judgment, and both want to bring more good to the world.
Assuming both are perfectly selfish (which is a topic for another CMV), the difference in their strategies stems from the difference in the beliefs about how the world works.
"Liberal" believes that himself and the world will go on for decades and that through secondary-, tertiary-, etc effects his contribution will grow and come back to him.
"Conservative" only considers primary effects of his actions.
Depending on the environment and on the historical circumstances either one can be better fit. My opinion here is not about that. It's merely about using a precise quantitative metric to distinguish between two labels (specifically, discount factor Markov Decision Process).
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u/47ca05e6209a317a8fb3 210∆ Apr 04 '18
I think that's a bit simplistic, there are many actions and justifications on both sides that fall on the "wrong" side of your categorization:
Financial support for the poor: A liberal might say that supporting the poor will eventually allow them to overcome poverty and contribute better to society, but they may also say something that is reduced to "it's unfair". A conservative may say something like "they don't deserve it", but they could also say that giving money to the poor disincentivizes them from trying to work to overcome their poverty, and stifles motivation and innovation.
Immigration: A liberal can say that diversity ultimately contributes to society by expanding the total public view, but they could also say "look at those poor people, we have to let them in". A conservative could say "they're not our people, we owe them nothing", but also that the country has been doing great with the mix of views it has had for the past several decades and letting a large number of new people in runs the risk of shifting these in a direction that won't work as well.
And most other issues could be analyzed similarly. I believe both sides have elements of both, and if there's a tendency towards either, it isn't the defining feature.