The moral matrix of liberal & conservative thinking...

I have been thinking a lot about my post regarding Corey Robin's book on conservatives last week, and something about it didn't sit well with me. It is too dismissive, sweeping and judgmental, so I went back to this TED lecture about the moral matrix and values that researchers find across humans in all different cultures:

Liberal-minded people value fairness and avoidance of harm over all other values.

Conservative-minded people also value fairness and avoidance of harm but view authority, purity, and ingroup cohesiveness as equal values.

Jonathan Haidt makes the point that we need both mindsets: liberals are great change agents, innovators and dynamic forces while conservatives tend to provide stability, rules of engagement, and some sense of tradition and order. His point underscores what everyone knows on some level: we need each other to move society ahead in a sane, stable way.

In my own activism, I can see these countervailing forces at work as some resist marriage equality and the expansion of the rights of the LGBT. For them, these changes are scary and threaten their sense of order...sentiments which I may disagree with, but need to understand to be a more effective and persuasive change agent. Haidt's insights about the moral mind help me understand my fellow conservative citizens even though many of them will never listen to this TED talk or try to understand my psychology.

But that's not my business or suffering...I want to live as free and happy as I can, and make the world a better place for all people, including me.