Ivy League Conservatives

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College was the first time I’d ever encountered a modern radical liberal. It was in one of my introductory pilot classes, one that occasionally featured some debate. The professor would, in teaching Kant, introduce a dialogue on some pretty polarizing issues, always taking the most liberal position herself. We were all scared freshmen and participation–which, incidentally, comprised 60% of our grades–was quite minimal initially, until our professor brought up gun control. A light bulb went on in my head; I’d written a gun rights paper for my senior project in high school. I countered the points my professor and other gun control advocates made, and the discussion grew quite spirited. I earned a poor grade in the class despite having a decent grade average on my papers, and when I went to the professor’s office to look at my exam results, I learned that my poor grade resulted from my ‘level of participation’. Whether she meant ‘level’ or ‘manner’, I’ll never know.

Grades aside, that semester taught me that when radical liberals’ positions are questioned, they often attack in any way they know how.

Throughout the remainder of college, I learned to keep my mouth shut, at least in the classroom. I learned to spot a radical liberal and to just walk away, drop the class or mentally filter out their inane filibustering. Postgrad, especially living in a metropolis, this isn’t as easy. Liberals have a foothold here, from which they can spout off their views, put up posters in coffee houses, protest loudly at farmer’s markets and sneer at front-page articles about the government from the cushioned banquettes of three- and four-star restaurants. I used to wonder where the conservatives were, where their outrage was, why no one seemed to care that radical liberals have such a public soapbox on which to stand. I posed the question to my Dad, whose answer I’ve paraphrased to omit mild profanity.

“Conservatives don’t give a **** care what liberals think.”

The concept of ignoring a liberal was certainly not new to our household. I don’t believe any Clinton has gotten farther than four words of a televised speech in our household before being muted. Except for the press conference Bill gave when he denied his dalliances with Ms. Lewinsky. In grade school, you ignore the children that tease you, and they realize they won’t get the attention they seek and they’ll move on. 

If I encounter a radical liberal ranting in public, I let him or her speak out of consideration if not respect. Radical liberals, however, are hell-bent on converting everyone they encounter, making everyone see the light. This is accomplished by vocal protests, gross hyperbole and the projection of their own insecurities and inadequacies onto their opposition. 

This isn’t a blanket statement against all liberals, many of whom I consider friends. It is against the radical liberals, however, whose sole mission seems to be to seek out and attack conservatives. Consider the guest post for Urban Conservatives I wrote yesterday. Now, I’ve read the Daily Kos, the Huffington Post, the New York Times, the LA Times. If I disagree, I write it here or tell my friends about it. You won’t see me writing to Joy Behar or Arianna Huffington each time she says something that I disagree with. I just stop watching the show, close the browser window, visit a different coffee shop, find another job. I don’t particularly care enough to preach to a choir in a language they don’t understand. 

Maybe I’m just not enough of an activist. But I like going on errands that are free from political discourse. I enjoy shopping at markets, shoe stores and coffee shops that don’t make me feel that I have to defend my personal political convictions, and my personal spending reflects that. Conservatives have other means of getting out the vote: personal connections, intellectual dialogue among like-minded people, and spirited debates among those mature enough to play along with the opposition. My brand of conservatism may be passive, but I’ll bet my blood pressure beats that of any radical liberal.

Perhaps that’s why conservatives are happier: they just don’t care. 

Image from ZombieTime.com