Blurts & Spasms

Some thoughtful answers in this thread. Here’s what I would add as an abbreviated overview, in the format of Characteristic: Conservative ← → Progressive.

Moral Judgements: Traditional, Conditioned, Confident and Unquestioned, Authoritative, Reflexive, Tribalistic, Egoic, Projectively Oriented (Self-to-Other), Permanent, Rigid ← → Considered, Tentative and Conditional, Dynamic, Altruistic, Inclusively Oriented (Others-to-Self), Temporary, Intuitive, Flexible

Values Emphasis: Group Belonging/Acceptance/Dependence, Individual Safety and Sovereignty, Negative Liberty, Personal Power and Responsibility, Winning ← → Emotional Independence (Individuation), Collective Safety and Opportunity, Positive Liberty, Collective Power and Responsibility, Sharing

Primary Beneficiaries of Ethos: Established Privileged Class and Individuals Who Share Same Values ← → All Classes and Values Orientations Collectively

Dominant Drivers: Fear, Anger, Aggression, Conflict, Hurt, Acquisitiveness, Grief, Disconnectedness, Perpetuating Us vs. Them ← → Compassion, Acceptance, Harmony, Generosity, Joy, Connectedness, Perpetuating Togetherness

Cognitive Evaluation Patterns: Black-and-White Categorizations, Fact-Resistant, High Tolerance for Cognitive Dissonance, Doubt-Resistant, Belief-Centric, Pessimistic ← → Nuance and Gray Area Categorizations (Ambiguity), Fluid Evidence-Based Revisions, Suspended Conclusions, Doubt-Susceptible, Belief-Skeptical, Optimistic

Dialogical Extremes: Legalistic, Callous, Pedantic, Autocratic ← → Wishy-Washy, Bleeding Heart, Endless Dialogue, Analysis Paralysis

There is more along these lines, but as you can see it is almost as if we are talking about to different species of human being. And in fact that may not be out of the realm of possibility. We may be observing genetic predispositions that predictably express as “conservative” or “progressive” phenotypes over time. That is, actual differences in the types of intelligence or perception available, different access to empathy, abstract reasoning capacity, tolerance for complexity, ability to grow and mature in various dimensions of self, etc. And if these differences really are this fundamental, then the ability to compromise or synergize may be limited.

However, I think something else is in play…namely, that a lot of effort - and money - has been thrown into exploiting conservative characteristics to serve corporate political and socioeconomic agendas. The reason we see so many conservatives thinking, spending, speaking and voting in lock-step is because their susceptibility to groupthink has been consistently and pervasively manipulated for many decades. This has created a unified front of bizarre, factually frail, often conspiracy-driven attitudes and beliefs that energize conservatives to act against their own best interests, but for the clear benefit of corporatocracy.

Meanwhile the progressives are not unified, are unclear about their political and economic priorities, and are unable to act as swiftly or decisively as conservatives to consolidate power.

My 2 cents.

From Quora question: https://www.quora.com/How-can-conservatives-and-progressives-differ-so-on-fundamental-questions-of-right-and-wrong/answer/T-Collins-Logan