This is a repost of something I wrote a LOOONG time ago, in light of the recent Superman Thread:
The Liberal (social) Justice League vs. The Conservative Legion of Doom - Posted by Weisshaupt on Saturday, April 19, 2008 9:54:30 AM
The political conflict in the United States is best understood when it is considered as a cultural war between two different tribes of people: A Conservative tribe and A Liberal Tribe.
At the heart of this conflict is each tribes’ view of knowledge. Liberals believe that Knowledge is concentrated in a few elite individuals, fit to act as the decision makers for others, who, lacking this superior knowledge, are seen as having insufficient abilities or resources to make good decisions for themselves. Contrastingly, the Conservative tribe takes a view that, in most circumstances, the best qualified person to make decisions for a particular individual is usually that individual himself. This difference has huge ramifications and is key to understanding how each tribe defines their values of “truth”, “responsibility”, “freedom”, “justice”, “equality” and the concept of individual “rights.”
The conservative tribe can be said to inherit its values and worldview from the Founding Fathers of the United States, who were the first in history to form a government based on the assumption that individuals were competent to making their own decisions in most circumstances. The Founding Fathers felt Scientific inquiry and empirically collected data were the best road to “truth”, but also felt other methods of “truth finding”, such as religion, should be left open for all. “Freedom” is thus interpreted as the ability to find one’s own “truth” and to make personal decisions based on those findings. “Responsibility” thus becomes the result of having and paying the consequences and/or reaping the benefits of using one’s “freedom.” “Rights” are then seen as limits on government power that guarantee certain decision making powers to the people, as a group or as individuals. Conflicts between individuals exercising their freedom will inevitably arise, and a system of “justice” is needed to apply the rules and laws in the same way for everyone, regardless of who they are - an “equality” of legal process.
Contrastingly, the Liberal tribe’s worldview mirrors that of comic book super-heroes; A few elite individuals are believed to have super-human knowledge. Superior knowledge is the FUNDAMENTAL characteristic of EVERY decent comic book super-hero. Spiderman has his “spidey sense”, Superman has x-ray vision and super-hearing, and the X-Men have Charles Xavier. Information is the most important super power, as it allows the Superhero to detect and stop a threat as (or before) it occurs. The Liberal Superhero Caste is no different. They believe they have a super power called “Empathy”, which allows them to feel for and understand others, including inanimate objects such as the animals, trees and even the Earth itself. Liberal Superheroes believe they have an ability to judge what is “Best” at all Times, and because “great power comes with great responsibility”, these Superheroes feel they must assume “responsibility” for the decisions of others. This elite group of individuals sees themselves as belonging to a “Justice League”, a group which stands ready to defend “Truth”, “Freedom”, “Justice”, and the “American Way” as those terms are defined by the Liberal Elite. Often the Liberal assumption of supreme knowledge is so great they feel that, like comic book superheroes, the normal constraints of reality do not apply to them . Hence the effects of evil dictators, supply and demand, or even the differing talents and inclinations of different people, are believed by the Justice League to be easily sidestepped by using the right “enlightened” policies. Utopia is assumed to be the normal state of the universe if the “right” superheroes are in charge. .
The “Justice League” believes their role is to mitigate the consequences of bad decisions and ensure that individuals exercise the “right” values when taking care of their bodies, consuming resources, giving to charity, or interacting with others. In short, the Justice League’s job is to save others from themselves and to ensure everyone does what is “best” for the community. Given the parent-like role assumed by the Justice League, “Freedom” for the non-elite becomes almost synonymous with the “freedom” of a child – a “Freedom” from individual accountability and decision-making. Dedicated to nurturing and protecting all people as their wards, the Justice League claims everyone has a “right” to clean water, “good” housing, a job, cheap gas, etc. “Rights” to the Justice League are material goods or opportunities that are to be provided to everyone. The Justice League is able to leap over the fact that these things are not “free” in a single bound, as they transfer these goods to some at the expense of others. Hence, “Justice” becomes an exercise in trying to achieve an “Equality” of result across all groups of people - otherwise called "social justice"
Those in the conservative tribe that point out the constraints of reality, or simply disagree with the Values being imposed, are not seen simply as dissenters with different opinions, but as actual forces of “evil” – selfish, uncaring “Super Villains” who wish to victimize others. Seen from the view of the Justice League, the conservative tribe forms the “American Legion of Doom”, an organization responsible for and dedicated to propagating “inequality” and “injustice” worldwide. So when different groups have different results, or welfare fails to reduce poverty, or a hike in minimum wage raises unemployment, or levies break during a hurricane, its painfully obvious to the Justice League that the American Legion of Doom is responsible for foiling their plans. In reality, the Justice League, like the Greatest American Hero, wants to play at being a superhero, but has no access to the instruction manual.
"The Greatest American Hero" TV Intro
