| No, both sides have different realities they don't like- Reality Progressives don't like: - Gender correlates with biology - Giving chronically homeless people housing won't fix their homelessness - Not charging serious crime won't lead to safer neighborhoods - You can't fix societal disparities by changing who is at the top and bottom of a pyramid of privilege - Demonizing the wealthy won't lead to any productive outcomes - The amount of GDP consumed by government already should be manifestly sufficient to fix the things government is capable of addressing efficiently - Universal Basic Income is a pipe dream with no mathematic or social basis in reality - Getting rid of religiosity without replacing it with another moral foundation will lead to progressively worse societal outcomes (and progressive thought is in no way an adequate replacement) - Shouting down unpopular opinion doesn't make those opinions go away Reality conservatives don't like: - Locking prisoners away for long periods leads to greater gangsterism and lifelong criminality - Racial disparities, whatever their source, need to be addressed systemically for society to prosper - Making huge changes to our atmospheric mix is 100% likely to lead to undesirable outcomes- the globe, and humans as part of it, will not prosper with large changes leading to unknowable outcomes in our biosphere - Education is essential to social mobility - Social safety nets are essential to social mobility - Free markets are rarely free of defect and tend towards capture, either regulatory or monopolistic, and need frequent intervention to function efficiently - Even if you've felt deceived by the media, making it a point of pride to doubt anything/everything you hear opens you up to those who will manipulate that doubt for their profit and power Either way, the smugness both sides have in being sure they are the 'righteous/scientific' side only opens them up to lack of self-reflection on whether their side is correct on a particular issue. If you're sure that your 'sides' agenda is correct top to bottom, you've assuredly sold yourself a bill of goods. |
Regardless, my point is still that the preponderance of evidence aligns with a preponderance of liberal policy. Climate denial, covid denial and election fraud conspiracies on their own are enough to condemn modern American conservatism to the garbage heap of corrupt populism even if liberals were buying every drug-addled hobo a luxury condo. I'd still rather live in that world.