JONATHAN HAIDT: Well, if people work hard, they should succeed. If people don't work hard, they should fail. And if anyone bails them out, that is evil. You should not bail people out who have failed, especially if it's because of lack of hard work, something like that. So as the right sees it, government is evil because it keeps punishing success, with redistributive policies, okay, take from the successful and give to the unsuccessful.
I think that he misses a very important point about conservatives. I don't think that I have ever met a conservative who feels that bailing someone out is evil itself. If an individual or group of individuals wants to bail someone out with their own resources, that is their right and is quite simply none of my business. It is when *I* am forced to bail someone out, through taxes, that I have a problem with it. I've certainly helped people out who were down and out. And when it is by choice, it is a good thing. It's good that Haidt has made an attempt to avoid demonizing either side, but he has missed the mark on a very important point. |
