Someone commented recently (on NPR) that the Democratic
convention not only looked different from the RNC’s convention, but it felt
different, too. I thought about that for a while, and I am pretty sure I can
point to one reason why that is: we view people in very different ways.
Among the many issues at the fore this election season are
social-safety net programs funded by the government. Ask a republican what they
think about, say, food stamps, and they will likely tell you of their concerns
about waste and abuse. Many will insist they know of actual cases where people
were loafing off the system and getting more benefits than they were entitled
to (or for longer than they really needed said benefit). Ask a democrat what they
think of food stamps, and you will get a very different response—they will
likely tell you of their concern regarding the opposing party’s plan to cut
food stamp benefits, and how they worry about the many families that will go
hungry without such essential assistance.
Why the difference? It’s simple, really—liberals see the
good in people. We know some people
abuse the system, but we believe most do not. We choose to see the positive,
and focus on the good programs do. Conservatives appear to be focused on the
negative—because a few bad apples have benefited from the system (that we know
of), then there must be way more, and the whole program should just be
reduced to a bare minimum. People are lazy and bad, and will choose a free ride
whenever possible. However, such
thinking only diminishes the reality of what poor families really go through,
and that will never eliminate the need for such programs. Being in a
place of need can be hard enough—we don’t need others to add to the humiliation
by suggesting that those who take advantage of social programs are simply bad
people mooching off of the rest of us.
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