The Conservative worldview is the cause of almost all human conflict [View all]

[ProfessorPlum]

Decision making and governance by progressives and liberals is driven by two main considerations

1. Do as little harm to people as possible and/or do as much good for as many people as possible

2. Treat people equally as much as possible

Most people would agree that these two tenets are the basis for a good moral code.

Conservatives, however, treat these two rules with little *asterisks next to them. The footnote says *applies to the 'right' people only.

What constitutes the 'right' people? Well, it can change depending on the situation, but they use Hierarchy, Ingroup, and Purity to determine who can be harmed and treated unfairly with impunity.

Dirty hippies, brown people, mentally ill people, etc., fail the purity test. Poor people, minorities, immigrants, etc. fail the Heirarchy test. Limosine liberals, social justice warriors, Democrats, etc. fail the Ingroup test.

Ingroup is especially interesting and elastic. If one is an evangelical protestant, Outgroup can apply to atheists, or non-monotheists, or non-judeochristians, or jews, or Catholics, or mainstream protestants, or evangelical Christians of the wrong sect, etc. It can be made to expand or contract depending on the situation. And Ingroup can incorporate Hierarchy and Purity - people below us on the hierarchy, or impure people, are surely in the Outgroup.

And so, Outgroup people can be harmed and treated unfairly (in the eyes of a conservative) with no moral problem. A black person is killed by a white cop? The victim is down the hierarchy ladder (in their eyes) both by their race and their authority, so no harm done. A white woman is harassed by her male boss at work? It would matter, except she is lower in status and gender (in their eyes). Brown, non-Christian people are blown up by white, Christian, Americans? There is no question of injustice there.

Interestingly, this makes conservatives WAY more guilty of "situational ethics" than progressives/liberals (though that is the projection they are always throwing at liberals). Because to them it doesn't matter just what the situation is, the identities of the players also really matters to them. It's why they can cry when their leaders are held to account for crimes, but viciously attack people in their Outgroup for much smaller offenses. It's why IOKIYAR. It's why progressives are much more likely to say "well, if our leader did it, then there should be consequences".

This frame that some people matter and others don't runs through our corporate media, as well, which are plutocratic dictatorships, after all.

Conflict arises from injustice. Injustice arises from the conservative worldview. And that is what keeps the human race at each others throats, for now and all eternity, world without end, amen.