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Video: The real difference between liberals and conservatives

Thu, 09/18/2008 - 01:40 - NLN

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we're left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most.

Jonathan Haidt studies how -- and why -- we evolved to be moral. By understanding more about our moral roots, his hope is that we can learn to be civil and understanding of those whose morals don't match ours, but who are equally good and moral people on their own terms.

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outstanding video on morality

On September 18th, 2008 terren says:

This is an outstanding video coming from someone who embraces ideas on both the liberal and conservative spectrum. Although Haidt is clearly liberal, his talk transcends the kind of biases that are typical of politically identified people.

If you don't have twenty minutes to watch this, the basic points are these:

  1. We are born with a 'first draft' of the moral mind... seen as biases or predispositions that experience may modify
  2. Everyone basically agrees on the importance of harm and fairness when it comes to morality, but authority, loyalty, and purity are seen as important components of morality only by conservatives, not liberals.
  3. Those three latter components may have entered the 'first draft' in the service of group cohesion and effectiveness, particularly with regard to tribal psychology and competition against other groups
  4. However, group cohesion comes at a cost to certain members of the group; authority based on these principles can be quite repressive. Liberals stand for those who are oppressed, seeking change and even disorder. Conservatives, on the other hand, understand that order is a hard-won achievement and how easily it can be lost.
  5. Both perspectives are important to the overall moral functioning of a culture.
  6. If we truly desire moral truth, we must transcend righteousness, which is not to be interpreted as throwing away our sense of right and wrong. It means achieving moral humility, which is the understanding that everyone thinks they are right and acts accordingly, and more importantly, that our own sense of rightness is not superior to another's even if we disagree with them.

Liberalism Vs. Conservatism

On September 18th, 2008 quantum_flux says:

I think the difference is in altruism vs. individualism. The liberal thinks that everybody needs to support everybody through the means of the federal government, whereas the conservative sees no reason why people need to support other people through the federal tax system and thinks that private enterprize suffices to support people by paying them in return for their services.