From: sieferme@stein.u.washington.edu (Eric Sieferman)
Subject: Re: Re. Integrity
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 17:03:57 GMT

In article <carlson.722007837@cwis> 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 know any liberals who think that the state is the
answer to all our problems.  For that matter, none of the
socialists I know believe this.  If your family believes this,
they must be monarchists or something similar.  If they
don't believe this, then you are distorting their beliefs.

>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.

BTW, I was a semi-conservative, semi-libertarian as a college
youth in the early 1970's (before such beliefs became
fashionable).  One of the (many) reasons I left this ideology
was the endless honking by conservatives about "hard" work.
As I got older, I discovered that people like unmarried
single mothers and migrant farm workers work a lot "harder"
than the suburbanites I was raised with, certainly a lot
harder than trust fund bums like Dan Quayl or the beltway
bandits who gorged themselves during the Reagan/Bush years.
And if you don't think that poor people don't already
have enough "incentive" for work, you must never have
seen hundreds of people line up at a factory door for
one job opening.

>	I know why I am conservative, and for one to judge someone as
>conservative only because of Mommy and Daddy is a well thought out slam,
>but why not think about why they have really chosen to adopt a
>conservative philosophy.

Very true.  Youthful rebellion would be a better explanation;
it certainly was a dominant force among most of
my hippie friends.

>The reason education produces a lot of liberals
>is because (at least in my experience) there is a lot of liberal bias in
>text books, and in lobby organizations (NEA for example). 

The only reason you see a "liberal" bias in textbooks is
due to you (apparently) extreme right wing position.
Try reading a liberal or socialist critique of the 
US education system for a different perspective.

>	I have had more history teachers who were such diehard femenists 
>that they couldn't actually teach the subject matter because they were 
>too busy trying to rewrite the past to make women the hunters and men the 
>gatherers, than I have had conservative teachers who couldn't teach because 
>they were trying to push their views on their students.

Some self-identified feminists (who are definitely NOT all
liberal, BTW) are indeed wacko.  But most of the feminist historians
I've known or read are trying to correct the easily
documented biases, inaccuracies, and slights of "normal"
history textbooks.

>	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?

If this is true, it may be due to the believe common to
some conservatives that if a person is suffering, it is
due entirely to the inadequacies of the sufferer, 
and that no one else has any responsibility in the matter.
If one is well off, and one also believes that one
DESERVES to be well off, it is easy to be satisfied
and complacent.  However, I have found bitterness
among people of every political persuasion.  For example,
the Limbots I hear (including ol' Rush himself)
sound extremely bitter, angry, resentful, and shrill.



-- 
| Eric Sieferman            |    sieferme@u.washington.edu          |
| U. of W., M.C.I.S.        |    (206) 685-3104                     |