Liberals Are More Selfish Than
Conservatives
Since 06-02-08
Monday, June 2,
2008 1:51 PM
By: Ronald
Kessler
Contrary to the image they try to project, liberals are less
compassionate and more selfish than conservatives, according to a new
book by Peter Schweizer.
Drawing on extensive attitude surveys, Schweizer’s “Makers and Takers:
Why Conservatives Work Harder, Feel Happier, Have Closer Families, Take
Fewer Drugs, Give More Generously, Value Honesty More, Are Less
Materialistic and Envious, Whine Less . . . and Even Hug Their Children
More Than Liberals,” which comes out this week, says liberals are much
more likely than conservatives to think about themselves first and are
less willing to make sacrifices for others. [Editor's Note: Get Peter
Schweizer's book.
Go here now.]
Some
71 percent of conservatives say they have an obligation to care for a
seriously injured spouse or parent, compared with 46 percent for
liberals. Asked if they would endure all things for the one they love,
55 percent of conservatives say yes, compared with 26 percent of
liberals.
Equally revealing, liberals are far more likely to say they are
depressed and to view the world bleakly. Schweizer attributes that to an
attitude that they and those around them are victims and helpless unless
the government intervenes.
In
answer to a question from Newsmax, Schweizer says that may help explain
why liberal politicians and reporters tend to see everything with
pessimism, from the economy to the war on terror and the war in
Schweizer says the media and liberal professors have successfully
obscured these differences by painting a picture of conservatives as
mean-spirited. He quotes one professor as saying that conservatives
embrace the “unimpeded pursuit of self-interest” to get what they want
and that as children, they were insecure and whiny.
Conservatives are selfish, Robert Reich, Bill Clinton’s former labor
secretary, has said, and “they pander to the worst of us.”
Sen.
Charles Schumer said on Bill Maher’s HBO show “Real Time,” “There are
some, you know, there are some anti-Semites in this county, but most of
them would vote Republican anyway.”
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean has said conservatives and
Republicans are “evil,” “corrupt,” brain-dead,” and “not very nice
people” who have “never made an honest living in their lives.”
If
Schweizer’s book is a ground-breaker, it also raises the question of why
Schweizer’s findings may come as a surprise even to conservatives.
Schweizer cites ample evidence that the media have ignored good news
about conservatives and have helped perpetuate the myth that liberals
are more compassionate and caring.
Katie Couric has said that during the Reagan era, "greed and materialism
was the norm.” Alan Colmes of Fox News’ "Hannity & Colmes" has said that
“Jesus was a liberal” because he was much more generous with limited
resources than a conservative would be.
Liberals Perpetuate
the Myth
“The
media have perpetuated these myths about conservatives over the years,”
Schweizer tells Newsmax. “And the media were very comfortable passing
these things along because they conformed to their world view."
Drawing on hard polling data, Schweizer demonstrates that the truth is
quite the opposite. In doing so, he explodes more myths than
firecrackers on the Fourth of July.
In
fact, Schweizer writes, self-described liberals and Democrats, who
profess to be tolerant, are much more likely to embrace stereotypes of
Jews than conservatives or Republicans. Some 45 percent of
self-described “strong” Democrats or liberals agree with the statement
that Jews are inordinately rich and money-driven, compared with 36
percent of strong Republicans and conservatives.
Schweizer cites similar research to show that even when they are in the
same income brackets, liberals are far more likely to complain about
their jobs, families, neighbors, health, and their relative wealth than
conservatives.
Liberals are much more likely to say that money is important to them,
according to the surveys Schweizer cites. They are two and a half times
more likely to be resentful of others’ success and 50 percent more
likely to be jealous of other people’s good luck. Conservatives are much
more likely than liberals to spend time with their families, hug their
children, and be close to their parents.
Liberals tend to work less hard and are more likely than conservatives
to embrace leisure time as desirable. When asked if competition is good,
those who defined themselves as very liberal say yes only 14 percent of
the time, compared with 43 percent for conservatives.
Liberals are more likely to say that truth is something that is
“relative.” When asked if they believe in ghosts, 42 percent of liberals
say they do, compared with 25 percent of conservatives. Liberals are
more likely to say that’s it’s OK to be dishonest or deceptive, cheat on
taxes, keep money that doesn’t belong to them, and sell a used car with
a faulty transmission to a family member.
Overall, conservatives are more satisfied with their lives, their
professions, and their health compared with liberals of the same age and
income level.
Schweizer balances these findings with a few issues where liberals come
out ahead. He says liberals are more likely than conservatives to be
open to new experiences in travel, art, and music. But Schweizer exposes
hypocrisy at the core of liberal beliefs. While liberals claim to be
compassionate and to care about the poor, conservatives are much more
likely to donate their time and money to charitable causes.
When
Reich ran for governor of
Ned
Lamont, the anti-war Democrat who ran against Sen. Joe Lieberman in
In
contrast, George Bush gave 10 percent of his income to charity in 2005.
In 2005, Barack Obama made $1.7 million, or 2.5 times what Bush made
that year, but gave the same amount to charity as Bush did. That same
year, Dick Cheney gave away 77 percent of his income to charity.
Proud Conservatives
While Schweizer does not address attitudes about national security (the
subject of his next book), he says liberals are more concerned about
what others think than conservatives. When asked what is most important
to prepare a child for life, 40 percent of liberals listed “being
popular” among them, compared with 24 percent of conservatives.
On
the other hand, conservatives were more likely to say one of their main
goals in life is to “make my parents proud.” Presumably, those who are
more concerned about what others think are more likely to be concerned
about criticism of firm national security policies.
Finally, liberals try to paint conservatives as dumb — Clark Clifford
called Ronald Reagan an “amiable dunce.” Schweizer shows that while John
Kerry scored in the 91st percentile on a military IQ test, George Bush
scored in the 95th percentile. Contrary to misrepresentations in the
media, Bush also had slightly higher grades at Yale than Kerry.
Schweizer attributes liberals’ bleaker outlook on life to their
deep-seated victim mentality.
This
feeds a view that they cannot help themselves and encourages them to be
passive. They are far more likely to say that luck or fate plays a role
in their lives, as opposed to citing the need to take action themselves.
The
victim mentality, in turn, makes them more likely to become depressed,
suffer from a nervous breakdown, attempt suicide, be chronically angry,
throw something in a fit of anger, seek revenge, and have a bleak
outlook on life in general.
In
one survey, 34 percent of liberals said the problems of life were just
too big to cope with, compared with 19 percent of conservatives.
“Liberals often feel overwhelmed by life’s problems because they are
waiting for the government to fix them,” Schweizer says. “”When it
doesn’t, liberals blame others (and ‘society’) for their misfortune.”
Thus, liberalism “often damages its own adherents the most,” Schweitzer
says.
“Modern liberal ideas consistently encourage bad habits and destructive
behavioral tendencies,” says Schweizer, a research fellow at the Hoover
Institution.
Schweizer says liberalism is appealing because it gives lip service to
lofty ideals but demands little action. Liberalism considers as noble
those who complain about personal difficulties and display anger or
denounce our “money-making culture,” but liberalism does not stress
taking personal responsibility and action.
Thus, “While liberals tend to be much more fixated on money, they
convince themselves that if they hold the belief that our society is too
obsessed by money, the money culture doesn’t influence them adversely
the way that it does other people,” Schweizer says.
“Modern liberalism is a wonderful tool to kind of avoid having to make
much change in your life,” Schweizer says. “It’s kind of in my mind the
equivalent to carbon offsets. You don’t need to change anything in your
life, you simply have to sort of stamp this document or pay this minor
price, and the problems in your life just sort of go away.”
Ronald Kessler is
chief