Of course, many liberals will loudly proclaim that they don't hate capitalism, "per se." However, I find myself rather unconvinced, when nearly every policy put forth by liberals entails severe regulations on the "free" market, and liberals consistently espouse a near-vile hatred of corporations, and generally anyone successful within the capitalist system (i.e. the majority of rich people).
Consider our poor. Most people with a shred of humanity within them have compassion for the poor, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum. And yet, there is a consistent claim levied by the progressive left that conservatives hate the poor - a claim that has persisted for decades despite studies showing that Republicans give more to charity than Democrats do. There are arguments as to whether the divide is actually religious or political in nature, but the general principle remains: the more 'traditional' or conservative a person is, the more generous they are with their own money (on average).
So why this blatant falsehood? Why is it that progressives, who are more than generous with other people's money, would blatantly push a falsehood?
- As a side note, some liberals will tell you that they're being taxed too. That may be true, but they want the rich and the corporations to be taxed more, and I've yet to see a liberal write a check to the government for the sole purpose of charity. Any person giving this line is being facetious.
The truth is, conservatives view poverty differently than liberals do. Conservatives make a *distinction* between different kinds of poor: the deserving poor, and the undeserving poor. One of the primary reasons why conservatives prefer to keep their money and donate via choice is their ability to decide who to give it to. The incredible waste and frivolous expenditures of the government make a second, incredibly compelling reason.
The conservative is perfectly fine with giving help to people who are truly in a scrape, and who genuinely are trying to get out - but they have very little tolerance of people who are simply lazy and looking to get a free ride. Moreover, Conservatives believe that personal intervention is vastly more effective than impersonal money-throwing.
So with this in mind, this is my proposal for why progressives hate capitalism and insist on government charity over personal:
1) Laziness - As we established beforehand, progressives are statistically less likely to give to charity. Why put forth effort to actually figure out who's worth helping out when you can just let the government take a cut of your paycheck and sloppily do it for you? Related to number one is...
2) Self-doubt - or more specifically, self-doubt of the American people. In the same way that the average American thinks they're a better driver than average (spoiler: I'm a terrible driver), it'd be no surprise for us to discover that most progressives think themselves as charitably average as well. And given their poor charity rates, switching America from government charity to private charity would be a night mare... if progressives were the average. Luckily, they are a minority in America.
3) The undeserved poor - this is the big one. And because of that, I'm switching back to paragraph format.
You'll see a strain of thought within many progressive posts, comments, articles, etc, regarding wealth - that it is unearned. Every time a progressive complains about the rich, and how evil they are, and how bad corporations are, they include a tiny implication: "this person or company is evil, and their wealth is undeserved. That's why I think they should be taxed so highly - I want their wealth taken away and given to someone else. Preferably me - oh and those other unfortunate poor too." Progressivism doesn't believe in capitalism, because progressives are anti-competition. And because they don't think wealth is undeserved, they're against discriminating against the undeserving poor - because that would mean them.
On the other hand, most conservatives aren't afraid of discriminating against the lazy poor and undeserving poor in society. Why?
Simple. Conservatives believe in competition. And that means they're willing to try and fail for what they believe in, and because they're willing to try, they're not the undeserving. But you'll rarely (if ever) hear a progressive admit to this. Why?
Because up to 80% of drivers think that they're above average in driving - and we all know that's impossible.
Don't get it yet? Try this quote on for size:
"It's very hard to get a man to understand something when his very livelihood depends on him not understanding it" - Stefan Molyneux
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