Here is a great quote from Michael Medved on the difference in views from conservatives and liberals on inequality.
One of the most important distinctions between liberals and
conservatives involves their contrasting explanations of the existence
of inequality.
Those on the left see the disparities between rich and poor
individuals, or between prosperous and impoverished societies, as
automatic evidence of unfairness. They instinctively assume that some
people do better than others only because they began their lives with
unjust advantages, or exploited the less powerful, or benefited from
random good fortune. On the other hand, the less favored members of
society suffered from racism or sexism or colonialism, and progressives
believe that any reference to their own dysfunctional or
self-destructive behavior amounts to “blaming the victim.” Liberals
want to use governmental initiatives to close all gaps and level all
playing fields (to cite two of their favorite clichés), in order to
make up for the unwarranted and irrational processes that created the
glaring and wretched inequity in the first place.
Conservatives and libertarians, on the other hand, view success
or failure as the inevitable consequence of different levels of talent,
hard work and productivity. While acknowledging that a few lucky
slackers may be born into fortunate circumstances that they never
earned, or that some virtuous and gifted individuals can suffer
reverses or tragedies that they don’t deserve, right wingers believe
that worldly advancement (particularly in the USA) comes for the most
part from focus, toil and smart choices. They therefore resent
government redistribution programs for taking hard-earned wealth from
the people who deserve it most and giving it to those who merit it
least.
There is no doubt which attitude characterizes the worldview of
President Barack Obama. As Charles Krauthammer recently wrote: “Obama
is a leveler. He has come to narrow the divide between rich and poor.
For him the ultimate social value is fairness. Imposing it upon the
American social order is his mission. Fairness through leveling is the
essence of Obamaism.”
The article then explains that is why the Obama administration has given a commitment to Billions of new spending to teh International Monetary Fund. Why give to those countries who cannot help themselves?
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