Paul Norris, who helps lead Braver Angels’ Red Caucus, convenes an all-red panel to discuss what liberals, academia, and the mainstream media miss about conservatives. Featuring Mark Reinecke, Elizabeth Doll, and Barbara Farmer.
How will we look back on the 2020’s?
03/26/2024 No Comments
One day, we will likely look back on the America of the 2020’s with nostalgia as well. The weighty question is simply why?
15 thoughts on ““What Liberals Miss About Conservatives””
As a “leaning blue,” I found this podcast very interesting to listen to. The comments, observations, etc. were well received by me. One thing I missed was a direct discussion of the topic “What Liberals Miss About Conservatives.” Only the discussion by the woman on conservative values was the kind of thing I had hoped to hear on this podcast.
The later conversation on how conservatives do not want quick change from existing policies and approaches, was more to the point and much appreciated!
Lot’s of opinion, anecdotes, victimhood and grudges. Still some how blaming the left for Trump’s election. Hilarious. It’s so funny. These are academics? I think not. This is what conservatives sound like when they are at home. It’s too funny!!! So hilarious. “The Left” is to blame for Trump. Takes the cake when you consider how moderate Obama and Clinton were on economics. “Cities in chaos” OMG. Keep it coming. It’s so funny!!! How many of these “conservatives” actually live in cities? Cities seem to do just fine. Have you checked out rural areas lately? Dysfunctional AND dependent on cities financially. Maybe cities would be in better shape if they didn’t have to send so much of their tax revenue to rural areas. Most conservatives are not interested in the life of the mind. WF Buckley has been dead for a long time. They are also not interested in working for peanuts as adjunct professors. They are materialists. They are pragmatic. And whining because people who are curious and open minded are not interested in their ideas. Do you read the WSJ? Total Chicago School trickle down dogma. It’s the conservative bible. How is that different or more evidentiary than “academia?” Wow – no capacity for self-reflection. Psychology is NOT a hard science. OMG!!! Sorry no one genuflects to you. Get over it. It’s a market place of ideas. Yours don’t sell. But you are still entitled to them. And the more power to you. Peace.
To one of the women on the panel: What do you mean by “conservative values?” You are aware that Red States have much higher divorce rates? Dems can’t be good parents? If you want to stay home and bake cookies – that is your right. And I will defend that right. But if your niece wants to become a brain surgeon- I will defend that right too. Sir from the trailer park -That opportunity does exist…in cities and in blue states. Where have you been? Do you look at data at all? Back to Madam – Required reading? Yes, dear leader. You get better policy and outcomes when people participate in their communities. Reaching across the political divide? What? Hello? Remember the “permanent Republican majority?” Who’s been preaching “no compromise” for decades. Who is blaming the other side for the psychotic president that THEY elected? Neither did conservatives help prosecute his crimes. And he wants to be respected and loved. Respect is earned. Love begins with trust. First, be trustworthy. See above.
The story about your dad is touching. And I can certainly understand how that would shape your position. Does Biden or Trump sound more like your Dad? Again – progressives are to blame because the right can’t economically support a moderate press.
What can we do to fix our politics? Do you remember Obama’s State of the Union address after Citizens United? Do you remember the smug look on J Robert’s face? Do you remember the look on his face after J6? This is my problem with conservatives. They don’t see to think deeply about details, how things will play out over time…and it shows in their communication with their base through simplistic bumper stickers. The lack of policy. You lost me a Libertarian. A Libertarian is someone who wants just the right amount of law and order to protect their own interests but small enough to let them do whatever they want. It’s not workable in a complex, interdependent world. It’s also morally inert.
If you haven’t mentioned climate change – you don’t get it and you are not relevant. That’s why conservatives are not loved, respected, listened to, embraced – whatever other feeling you want to receive from others. Wow all about you!!
I’ll say I was a little disturbed by the conversation. The people talking mostly seemed very rational. I could understand where they were coming from. I do have to trust some of the anecdotal things that were said, though. That doesn’t surprise me.
What disturbed me was the fact that I don’t think the kinds of things they said are represented in the media much. I have trouble drawing a correlation between how they think, and what they said, and today’s Republican Party or the “conservative media” which seem so radical and dishonest to me. Seems like a huge divide. I was hoping to hear from of “those” conservative voices. Would have loved to converse with them myself.
In listening to the part about reality testing, I’m wondering what role geographic location plays in what results you can get from extreme ideas. What happens when most reds live in a very, very red area and most blues live in a very, very blue area? Increasingly, most people live where extreme ideas DO get affirmation. Does that mean reality has changed? The same idea that will get you kicked out of public places in Seattle or Portland may get you elected in Alabama or Texas.
Please host more podcasts like this one. I’d like to hear more ideas on how to help all of us middle of the road people get heard. The woman who works on political campaigns was especially interesting and I appreciated that she encourages us all to get involved in our local politics!
They finally got to the point at the end. The parties aren’t the same across geographic locations. We do need a third party because there are wide portions of the country where the two major parties don’t have multiple or varied approaches. They already matter, but more could be done with them. In Texas, the Republican Party tried to remove Libertarian candidates from the ballot this year. (The state supreme court prevented this.) This was easier than actually having to modify their extreme positions, so they went for it. Any time that 2% of the vote has that kind of power over behavior, you know that the 2% matters. I think the key to having a third party with staying power is actually to have a forth party because only then will BOTH parties have to actually change their behavior to stay competitive. If I can vote for any one of three other very reasonable parties, that would be a game changer. The problem with the Libertarian Party is that it is often a third unreasonable party rather than a real choice.
Braver Angels should start a book club. The first book should be American Nations by Collin Woodard. It’s an ethnographic history about the US and the immigration, colonization, expansion patterns that shaped regional cultures across this large continent. The book would help to inform the conversation that many have alluded to in their comments about geography. The book explains the various value systems and priorities that brought us to this divide – again. It feels momentous because we are living through it, but the US goes through these paroxysms of shifting cultural dominance once in a while. They don’t always lead to civil war. Sometimes they just lead to civil rights…
Please don’t form your opinions about Seattle or even it’s media around the comments in this podcast.
They have a book club.
https://braverangels.org/what-we-do/online-book-discussions/
I have just now watched this and would have lots of critiques. I wonder what these same people would say today, seeing the absence of any common sense or deep thinking from the Republican party as they prepare to nominate a presidential candidate with no moral values at all and little concern for the public well being.