Ryan ChartrandI must admit I spend way too much time trying to understand why liberals think the way they do. It frequently puzzles me as to how they can be so certain they are right when I know without a doubt they are wrong. As an idealist, I hope I can convince or persuade the other side that they are wrong or misguided and to “see the light.” I have tried many times with little, if any, success.
Then it dawned on me this weekend while I was watching “Star Wars.” The dark side (liberals) hope to bring order, freedom and prosperity to the country by having a firm grip on the population through laws, regulations and taxes. The Jedi (conservatives) promote the same goals through individual freedoms, personal responsibility and a limited democratic government.
The age-old question then becomes who is right? As a conservative, I must say I’m right and the liberals are wrong. However, from the liberal perspective, it is the opposite. The correct answer turns out to be that we are both right . from our own perspective.
The problem then becomes how to work together though our political process, especially when the liberals have so many conflicting points of view. A good example is with energy policy. Liberals contend that we should reduce our foreign dependency on oil. I agree and argue that we start drilling here, where we have oil resources and build more refineries to process the resources we have. While we are at it, we might as well build a few more nuclear plants to provide cheap, clean energy.
However, liberals then scream that we might harm the Arctic caribou or some other species. They are afraid of the Exxon Valdez spill or Three Mile Island accident happening again, resulting in loss of life. I would be more than willing to take the risk because I want that affordable energy. Liberals are not willing to take that same risk.
These issues extend much further. The liberal perspective of the “war on terror” is that we should stop spending billions on what they consider to be a quagmire. Conservatives contend that we should stop spending trillions on the poverty issues. Liberals want to save an endangered fish in the Klamath Basin; conservatives want to allow agriculturalists to produce food and fiber with the same water resources. Liberals want to let anyone here in this country obtain citizenship; conservatives want people to become citizens legally.
The point I’m trying to make is that in my attempts to understand liberals, I realize that I can do little to change their minds, just as they can do little to change my mind. We will always have conflict between what each side of the political spectrum perceives. Each side will continue to have misconceptions about the other. While I want to give the other side the benefit of the doubt and openly discuss issues and policies, I realize this will never work.
For too long, we as conservatives have attempted openness and fairness in our dealings with liberals only to be screwed by the other side. Enough is enough. We have to take a stand and defeat the liberals who challenge us – through whatever means necessary.
Bottom line: Liberals are the evil dark side that is consistently hypocritical, deceitful and wrong. They will destroy our country if they ever gain full control of our government. They must be stopped . at least in my point of view.
Ian Nachreiner is an agriculture science senior, treasurer for the Cal Poly College Republicans and a Mustang Daily conservative columnist.