From: madhaus@netcom.com (Maddi Hausmann)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.dan-quayle
Subject: Re: Re. Integrity
Date: 17 Nov 92 21:54:22 GMT
Organization: Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things

carlson@cwis.unomaha.edu (Brian D. Carlson) writes: >
>
>	BTW I am a conservative, and I know why I am a conservative. My
>parents are both liberals. The majority of my family are liberals. I
>just don't agree with the idea that the state is the answer to all our
>problems. I don't think that the state should fund any and all abortions
>for whatever reason they may be wanted. I believe that people should
>have incentive for hard work, and those who don't work hard shouldn't be
>patted on the hand with entitlements that cost our government (that's
>you and I) the majority of our budget.

If anyone could figure out why some people rebel against their parents
and while others follow in their footsteps, she would win a Nobel Peace
Prize.

By the way, my father is conservative and my mother is liberal.  Thus
I heard both arguments and chose from the best of them.  That's why
I'm a fiscal conservative and a social liberal.

>	The one thing I don't understand is this. If liberalism is the
>ultimate anser to all of our countries ills, why are the majority of
>liberals I have met bitter and seemingly miserable people, while the
>majority of conservatives I have met are easy going people who seem much
>more happy with who they are in life?

I believe you are misrepresenting liberalism.  Furthermore, I think
you will find that you are attacking a group that doesn't really
exist anymore.  I find more and more people who are pragmatists
and eschew ideology, either liberalism or conservatism.

I've met a lot of pretty angry "conservatives."  I would never call
them easy-going; I think the word I'd use for them is "smug."  They
believe they are right, and that anyone who disagrees with them
ought to leave the country or be shot.  I find them rather hateful.
The Disappearing Robert Davis is a good example; he demanded his
right to the best things in life because he was a White Male Mayflower
Descendent.

Now, the "conservatives" in the Nancy Kassebaum model are more in
line with the pragmatists I mentioned earlier.  Kassebaum had a
column in last week's paper calling on a revival of "true
conservatism," a reduction of state power in *all spheres*, e.g.
economics and morals.  It's the Right-Wing God Squad, of which Our
Boy is a member (bet you were wondering when I'd get my ObQ reference
in), that I find so nasty.  Maybe it's their Calvinist roots or
something, and no, I am not referring to Calvin and Hobbes.

And, for another ObQ reference, which comic-strip character is the
most like Danoe?  Like Calvin, he's caught in his own world (although
Calvin does have signs of more intelligence on his favorite subjects).
Like Bill, Jr. in the Family Circus, he's smug and expects the world
to revolve around him.  Like Dennis, he'd rather play (football instead
of golf) than hang around with girls.  And like Charlie Brown, he
keeps trying to kick that football, and the audience keeps on laughing.

-- 
Maddi Hausmann                madhaus@netcom.com
Humorist, Satirist, Tech Writer.  Take your pick.

Centigram Communications Corp, San Jose California  408/428-3553