Decency: The contrast between liberal and conservative

[TygrBright]

David Brooks is bloviating about decency in the NYT ("Trump's Presidency Smashed the 'Decency Floor'" if you're interested).

Bless his heart.

No, really. I don't think he's deeply evil, the way so many GOPpies have revealed themselves to be. He probably thinks he's "finding common ground" or something, with all of us who have been expressing horror and outrage about America's devolution and the lack of decency in the Republican Party and its helots.

I imagine his thinking process (see? I think he's capable of thought, even!) went something like this: "Well, they are saying they are outraged by the lack of decency, and I can certainly agree that the vulgar bullying, rudeness, crude language, etc., are totally unacceptable in our nation's governance and public discourse! So we agree on something! I will express my outrage, and they will understand that I am a person of thoughtfulness and gravitas and perhaps they will be willing to agree on, or at least listen politely to, some of my other intelligent ideas and brilliant thoughts."

The problem here lies in a commonly-used (and sometimes over-used) word that has quite different meanings for liberals than it does for conservatives.

When a liberal shouts "Have you no decency?" they are generally referring to 'decency' in the sense of "respect for common humanity." Liberals tend to believe 'decency' is the ability to recognize humanity in all types of people, respond to it with empathy and compassion, and work to redress inequities and injustices against that humanity.

When a conservative tut-tuts about the loss of decency, they are generally referring to a set of behavioral norms promoted to make public discourse, negotiation, and compromise easier and smoother, with the ultimate goal of preserving a status quo that has privileged people like them since time out of mind.

Conservatives not only approve of that form of decency, they need it, to use as a stick to beat back the expression of outrage, the punching up with protest, satire, and fiery rhetoric, used by those seeking to disrupt and change that status quo. The status quo which has privileged all those mannerly and decent conservative old white guys.

So of course they are pissed off at [Redacted] for hauling that tool out of their box and smashing it to powder. Just don't be fooled that their regretful tuts and huffs about 'decency' bear any real relationship to visceral outrage about brown children in cages, women being returned to the status of semi-privileged livestock, or old peoples' lives being not worth protecting from a global pandemic.

They don't mind discussing that stuff with you, though. As long as you're decently polite about it.

wearily,
Bright

[intrepidity]

1. Incredibly astute observation

You've described well an important nuanced distinction, well done.

[TygrBright]

2. Thank you.

Someone emailed me a copy of Brooks' screed today and was surprised when I expressed no regret that the NYT paywall prevented me from reading it. They offered to cut and paste it into the email, and I responded that it was unnecessary, thanks anyway. But they still did that, so I read it, and the OP is the result.

wearily,
Bright