In Groups and Out Groups

Conservatives and Progressives, Part 1

In his post last week, Dad began by writing, “the desire to right wrongs spans the political divide.” He was responding to something I wrote on Tuesday:

One of the very frustrating things about life is being unable to right many of the wrongs we see, or even to meaningfully render judgment on them at all. I think this is, in part, what fuels the progressive desire to “do something” which then manifests into protests, civil disobedience, or more direct action.

I was glad that he took the time to write his post, because what I wrote in that excerpt above was an incomplete thought. It wouldn’t be true to say that conservatives or those on the right are indifferent to addressing injustice. Yet, many of those on the left think that is exactly the problem with conservatives. In this view, conservatives don’t care about the poor or oppressed, they are only concerned with themselves and their own group. Conservatives, in turn, often view progressives as caring about vague causes or faraway people while being indifferent to their familial or community obligations. The way right and left view one another is, in fact, a mix of caricature and accuracy.

In his book The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt examined the ways that different groups see the world. We tend to assume that all people approach value questions the same way: Consider the problem, weigh possible options, and choose the best one. If that’s the case, then when someone chooses approaches we disagree with or despise, we assume they are either sincerely wrong, or deliberately malicious. What if both of those are too simplistic? Haidt writes that conservatives and progressives do not merely have different political goals, they emphasize different foundational moral values.

For example, the values conservatives care about most (like loyalty, authority, received tradition, etc.) lead them to emphasize their community, whether at the family, local, or national level. This would also include groups they belong to such as a religion or specific congregation. They therefore prioritize the protection and well-being of those groups. This naturally comes at the expense of those outside of their groups, whether they are local or foreign. That is not to say that conservatives care nothing for those people, simply that in their hierarchy of value, the in-group comes first.

Progressives, on the other hand, focus their concern for care and fairness on outside groups, particularly those they see as marginalized. Protecting and advocating for the outsider is paramount, often leading them to do so even at the expense of their own in-groups. This does not mean progressives don’t care about their families, churches, or country. But they can define their relation to those things by whether those groups join them in their efforts to reach and help the hurting.

What this amounts to, is that progressives tend to see conservatives as not only heartless, but deliberately opposed to the marginalized. Conservatives, on the other hand, look at progressives and wonder why they love immigrants they’ve never met more than their own families.

As I said above, I think this is a mix of caricature and accuracy. It’s caricature because progressives don’t hate their families or the groups they belong to. They are every bit as capable of forming strong, loving bonds with those close to them as anyone else. Likewise, conservatives don’t hate the poor or immigrants. Indeed, I’ve known many conservatives who work very hard on behalf of both groups.

On the other hand, when a conservative’s worldview leans too far towards their inclinations, it can manifest as anger towards outsiders. In the same way, progressives can and do cut off family members and friends who don’t join (or have sufficient enthusiasm for) the causes they care about.

Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash

I was recently talking about this on the Seacoast podcast. When I finished giving this basic outline, host Joey Svendsen said, “So it would be better for both groups to do the opposite, right?” And my response was, “No, actually.” Progressives and conservatives both make the mistake of believing the other side’s entire worldview is messed up and wrong. Since the values I wrote about above aren’t just positions the different sides take — they are literally how they see the world — it’s natural that they view one another as being opposed to How The World Should Be.

Therefore, even admitting the virtues of the other side can feel like a betrayal of one’s own heart. So, conservatives recoil at the idea of becoming progressive. They don’t want to ignore their families for groups of people they have never met and probably will never meet. Likewise, progressives are appalled at the idea of turning their backs on the marginalized so they can focus their attention on unpleasant or unkind relatives, or a church that they think is wrong about almost everything. This is why I don’t think the answer can be demanding progressives and conservatives abandon their moral foundations. No one is willing to do that.

I also don’t think it means that everyone should tack towards the center. I don’t really want conservatives or progressives to moderate when it comes to the things they care about; they should advocate for them fiercely. The problem isn’t how conservatives and progressives view the world; they’re both right, I think. The problem is that we no longer treat each other as sincere and honest in our beliefs and goals. We are suspicious and angry all the time, so nothing of any value to either side gets done. Or, things get done, but are then undone the next time the other side gets power. What would it look like if, instead, both sides appreciated the values and goals of the other, and were interested in helping them achieve things that are important to them?

Next week, I want to talk more about why progressives and conservatives need each other. Both worldviews are admirable in their own ways but neither can become a reality without support from the other side. Both left and right should be more willing to acknowledge what is good about one another. This won’t just turn down the cultural temperature, it will lead both sides to realize longer-lasting progress.