A common charge in western republics has been the claim that conservatives insist on thinking rationally and have no compassion, while liberals make all their decisions on feelings, and refuse to use their heads.
In the oft-misattributed aphorism, Winston Churchill first summed up this difference as: “If you’re not a liberal at 20, you have no heart; if you’re not a conservative by 40, you have no brain.”
Throughout the centuries-long struggle between the constitutionally-limited government and a Marxist welfare state, this tug-of-war between heart and head — between compassion and the rule of law — has remained at the core of so many of our policy disagreements.
Should government insist on self-sufficiency, or issue welfare checks? Do we rely on the self-policing of the invisible hand of the free market, or do we micromanage every business with crippling regulations? Do we let a big business go under, or do we make future taxpayers bail it out?
The Left’s positions are always considered the “compassionate” ones. But are they really? Perhaps the wrong side is getting credit for caring. Perhaps it’s time the Right starts fighting this method of classification.
