Lately, I've spent a lot of time thinking about what makes people conservative or liberals. The situation has become urgent since right-wingers almost always choose to deny climate change even while we are already seeing the serious impacts of our changing weather. What will it take to reprogram their minds and get them on the climate action bandwagon before it's too late?
Research
I've read several articles on conservatism v. liberalism and no two authors agree completely on what makes a person "conservative." However, there are some common elements:
- How people process fear.
- How people handle compassion.
- Suspension of reality.
- Protecting the status quo, need for order, and resistance to change.
As always I like to look at human evolution to understand current behaviors. As I've said before, our current civilization has only been around for 10,000 years, which is a blink-of-an-eye compared to the 2 million years we spent as early humans and hominids. I imagine that conservatives and liberals have been arguing since our earliest days. One side likes things the way they are, and the other wants to take the risk of change for the betterment of the group.
Religion
To me, religion is like the human appendix. At one time it likely had an evolutionary purpose, but now it remains a biological and cultural vestige, long after its purpose is gone. Jonathan Haidt, an author and social psychologist, confirmed what I had already figured out by saying:
Some people think that religion is an adaptation evolved both by cultural and biological evolution to make groups cohere in part for the purpose of trusting each other and then being more effective to compete with other groups.
In America, especially, conservative religion and politics appear intertwined and seem to support one another. I saw this first hand with the election of Donald Trump, who is a brass, crude human who enjoys his opulent lifestyle and womanizing, yet I've heard Christians call him a "godly man." Christians who support Trump show me just how far people will go to justify and support their conservatism.
Demographics
As a friend pointed out to me a few weeks ago, the "blues" in the 2018 mid-term election were mainly in populated areas, while the "reds" were typically in rural parts of the country. My own personal take on this is that when you are around a lot of different people with differing ideas you tend to become more tolerant and open-minded. At the same time, there is a little "self selecting" going on because people like to live with others who look and think like themselves.
Convert or Overwhelm?
A regular discussion I've had with my colleagues in the environmental movement is: Do we try to open the eyes of conservatives through rational discourse or do we try to defeat them politically and legislatively through better organizing? I believe the latter is the answer. I live in a very conservative state and regularly have conversations with right-wingers. If I make a "zinger" point they simply brush it off. For instance, they say: "Isn't Trump doing a great job?" Well, he packed the Supreme Court with another conservative and gave a tax cut to corporations and the wealthy, but other than that he has done nothing. When right-wingers brag about the soaring stock market, well that just means companies are getting better at exploiting the underclass and exporting jobs to sweat shops overseas. But conservatives love to throw the stock market in my face as if it's Donald Trump's scorecard.
In the 1960s it was the liberals who pushed through civil rights legislation and got us out of the Vietnam War. Both of these feats were accomplished by "overwhelming" — it was a continual pushing against the Old Guard until it finally cracked and relented. And that, my friend, is the only way we are going to get meaningful legislation passed on issues like gun control and climate change. When we take to the streets it makes conservatives uneasy because they require order. If enough of us clog the streets they will compromise to get us back in our houses. If we burn up the Capitol switchboard enough with our phone calls they will finally push through good legislation. And, better yet, if we elect good politicians in the first place, we can make forward progress.
My Personal Journey To Liberalism
In the fourth and fifth grades I had some amazing teachers who forever altered my thinking. One teacher, Mr. Copenhagen, would have daily group discussions. We would put our chairs in a semi circle and he would play a piece of music or read a newspaper article, and we then discussed it. This opened my mind to critical thinking, which is something schools today appear to avoid.
My next epiphanies came in the late 1980s when I had a job that exposed me to gays and Planned Parenthood. I was raised in a conservative household and attended conservative churches. In the right-wing world there must always be a common enemy to unite the base. For decades the favorite enemies of evangelical Christians have been the gay community and Planned Parenthood. But once I got to know these two groups I discovered that they were not bad, but rather fantastically wonderful people. I then developed resentment toward Christians because they were hating people they neither understood nor knew.
I remember once attending a Planned Parenthood luncheon through my role at work. Part of me said I was in the "bowels of the enemy," and the rebellious side of me liked it. I was curious. Far from being blood-thirsty baby killers, the people I met were loving, kind, and had a real burden and passion for women's health, especially lower income women. The work they were doing was incredible. A decade later I became a Planned Parenthood volunteer.
I guess what makes me a liberal more than anything is that I always want to root for and protect the underdog. Robin Hood is my hero and Donald Trump is the polar opposite -- he is the leader of the brutes who go after everyone who don't conform with mainstream white America. He is gold-laced trailer trash.
Summary
Conservatives are so good at reality suspension that they deny and forget that they were ever on the wrong side of an issue when positive change finally happens. It is no secret that large Christian evangelical groups opposed civil rights. Now, that's conveniently forgotten. Instead of African-American bashing, religious conservatives have moved on to new enemies like gays, Muslims, liberals, and immigrants. Their leaders touch all the fear buttons and the conservatives dig their heals in and protect their status quo, even if it means suspending compassion. In America being a evangelical Christian has nothing to do with following the example of Christ. Rather, it's all about protecting the cultural status quo.
There's been a lot of talk lately about climate refugees and much of the human disruption in the world, like the Syrian crises and current migrant caravan, can be traced to droughts, which, in turn, can be traced to climate change. By protecting the fossil fuel industry and ignoring climate change the political conservatives who currently control the U.S. government have a lot of blood on their hands. I hold them directly responsible for the unfolding climate disaster that's harming millions of people and animal species.
