CHARBONNEAU – The difference between liberals and conservatives

RESEARCHERS HAVE UNCOVERED fundamental differences between liberals and conservatives that go deeper than traditional definitions.

Liberals traditionally believe in public programs, social progressivism, multiculturalism, diplomacy in foreign policy, and a regulated free market economy. They believe that governments can play a role in solving social issues.

Conservatives traditionally believe in the importance of stability, law and order, and protection of private property. They oppose big government and support free enterprise to solve problems.

Conservatives, especially in the U.S., often see the world as a dangerous place; hence the preoccupation with gun possession and militarism.

Populism is becoming a defining feature of conservation in Canada under the Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

Freedom convoyers in Canada and their populist U.S. counterparts see the world as sinister. Wealthy people and woke elites are trying to bring them down. Bad people in powerful positions are conspiring to control the world through institutions such as the World Economic Forum.

Psychologists Jer Clifton and Nick Kerry at the University of Pennsylvania dove into those long-standing definitions. They found that the main difference between the left and the right is whether people believe the world is inherently hierarchical.

Their studies found that the “dangerous world” belief was not the core difference between liberals and conservatives but that a hierarchical world belief was. They explain:
“Conservatives, our work shows, tend to believe more strongly than liberals in a hierarchical world, which is essentially the view that the universe is a place where the lines between categories or concepts matter. A clearer understanding of that difference could help society better bridge political divides (Scientific American, March, 2023).”

The psychologists found that the hierarchical belief is just one of 26 “primal world beliefs” that people hold. They define “primals” as a reflection of what individuals think is typical about the world — for instance, that most things are beautiful or that life is usually full of pain and suffering. Primal beliefs hold important implications for people’s mental health and well-being.

While the psychologists didn’t assess the primal beliefs held by the populist branch of conservatism, I think their surveys reveal populist beliefs in terms of their views of the world as being inherently good or bad – that people have good or bad intentions.

I took the survey at https://myprimals.com/discover-your-primals/ and found, not to my surprise, that I am not of the conservative or populist persuasion.

I didn’t score high in hierarchical beliefs. Those scoring low on hierarchical believe that most hierarchies are artificial and most things actually have basically the same value and worth. Those scoring high believe that hierarchy is inherent to the universe and most things can be ranked from better to worse, because most things really are either better or worse.

However, one of my low scores was “Just World Belief.” Those scoring high in this believe that good deeds are generally rewarded, bad deeds punished, and what goes around comes around.

I can’t help but feel that social justice doesn’t prevail. People work hard but the system keeps them down. And while karma is a wonderful concept, it’s wishful thinking.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.