Liberals vs. Conservatives

The Viscount LaCarte tells us why he is a liberal.

As a Canadian, I often think of conservatives in terms that are often used to describe the NDP (New Democratic Party), our left-wing/labour party. A lot of people say the popularity of the NDP is based on unrealistic idealism; they say, "it's easy to propose national daycare programs, increased funding for schools, healthcare, and and job-retraining programs when you have no chance of ever forming government". This is exactly how I feel about popular conservative thought: most of it is an over-simplified idealistic fantasy. It's the stuff of Ayn Rand novels. No regulations, no taxes, no government, no nothing, just the invisible hand. Everything will work out perfectly if we just leave it to the free market.

Well anyone with a bit of knowledge knows that's not how it works. But the neo-conservative messsage has been sold so well that people with no knowledge of economics put their faith in the market without really understanding how it works. When was the last time a right-wing talker mentioned the term "market failure"?

You don't have to be a communist to believe that markets fail-- any pro-market who ignores that fact is either disingenuous or ignorant. I'm afraid that our current pro-market culture has become a bit of a cult...