From: Steve Peterson (peterson.steve@verizon.net)
Date: Fri Apr 16 2004 - 19:30:36 BST
Hi Wim,
Wim said to Platt:
> > You wrote 15 Apr 2004 11:16:14 -0400:
> > 'it seems the "literal" meaning [of "liberal" and "conservative"] is quite
> > different there in Europe than here in the U.S.'
> >
> > I'm afraid that I didn't recognize your descriptions of "liberal" and
> > "conservative" as "literal meanings". Would you agree that a literal
> > meaning of these terms should be phrased (or rephrasable) using the verbs
> > "to liberate" respectively to "conserve"? If yes, could you give a
> > description of American "liberals" and "conservatives" using these verbs?
> > If no, what would be the criteria for a "literal meaning" of these terms
> > for you (also applicable outside a political context)?
If you want to understand these terms, I think the best simple explanation of
the difference between a liberal and a conservative in America is Wilber's
assertion that a liberal will tend to point to external causes of human
suffering (e.g., oppression) and point to external solutions (e.g. welfare)
while the conservative will point to internal causes of human suffereing (e.g.
laziness) and point to internal solutions (e.g. insentives, traditional family
values). Since the MOQ doesn't make an internal/external slice(or the
individual/collective one that PLatt wishes it did), I suspect it will be
difficult to shed light in the distinction by applying the MOQ other thanb to
say that the conflict between the two sides is in large part a result of SOM
thinking.
Regards,
Steve
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