Why are We Conservative or Liberal?

What makes us liberal or conservative? I suppose it’s our value system. I’m not a psychologist. Far from it, but I can speak from my own experience. We grow up being exposed to situations that teach us a set of values. These values become our framework we use to form our opinions. Over time a set of values becomes the mainspring that makes us tick. Our likes and dislikes are reflected in our personal set of values. It’s how we see the world.

Can we change our values? I think so, but it takes time. We form a set of values when we’re young. They stay with us, but they continue to develop throughout life. As we grow older, and hopefully wiser, we see values from a different perspective. The rank order of what’s more important, and what’s less important moves around.

It’s not capricious. It takes many years to alter the priority of our values. If they changed overnight, then they really aren’t values- just passing thoughts or emotions. I suppose someone could have a eureka moment, like a born again religious experience, but I think that too comes out of the emotion of the moment- still guided by a lifelong baggage of values we carry.

So why are some people conservative and others liberal? When I listen to conservatives, values such as family, honor, patriotism, self-reliance, work ethic and loyalty seem to be high on the list. Liberals often speak of justice, diversity, social compassion, empathy, charity and forgiveness. Does it mean one excludes the other? Not at all. We all have these values. We all carry them around with us. What makes us conservative or liberal is a matter of what values are higher on our internal priority list.

So why is a subject like health reform so contentious? It gets to the heart of our values. We stand at the ready to defend the honor of our values, and they are very different.