The difference between liberals and conservatives can be summed up in one object lesson.  I was raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  It is a place noted for long and cold winters.  One of the games we played as children was to try and see who could walk the straightest line across a snow covered field.  Most of us would walk very carefully, trying to put each foot exactly in front of the other.  When we arrive at the other side of the field we were exhausted and were stunned to look back and see how much we had wobbled off course.  Some of the kids never made it all the way across the field, they just walked in circles.  But one kid, brighter than the rest of us, just picked out a tree at the other side of the field and walked straight toward it.  When he looked back, he had a nice straight line all the way across the field.  It also took him a lot less time and energy to cross that field.

Liberals are like the kids who tried to measure every step.  They think the secret to success is micro-managing every step along the way.  They pass numerous regulations telling us how to live every moment of our lives.  They even want to tell us what size soda to drink.  The only thing they don’t want to regulate is abortion.

Conservatives are like the kid who just focused on the tree on the other side of the field.  They have figured out that if you try to manage everything you manage nothing.  You just waste a lot of time and energy without making any real progress.  Conservatives believe that regulations should be reserved for things that really matter.

I think liberals would benefit from a visit to that snowy field in Upper Michigan.  But there would still be a problem.  Liberals don’t make decisions based on facts or actual results.  They would probably praise the kid who walked in circles, because he or she felt better doing it.  To liberals, success is over-rated.

TDM