Reader talks liberal, conservative philosophies

What does it mean to be liberal or conservative? I have a few ideas.

My first idea is that conservatives long for an ideal past while liberals desire a utopian future. For example, the very vocal conservative Tea Party idealize events from over 200 years ago in which a group of scrappy armed revolutionaries successfully overthrew the mightiest empire on the planet in the name of limited government and lower taxes; while perhaps Star Trek is the best example of a liberal future utopia where the genders are equal, everyone has meaningful employment, everyone is fed, and the people of the world are united in a common purpose of scientific exploration. So, my first idea is that conservatives long for an ideal past (which probably never existed) and liberals desire a utopian future (which probably never could exist). Look to the past or look to the future.

This philosophical orientation affects contemporary issues. Consider energy. Conservatives want to remain with older energy sources such as fossil fuels. Conservatives deny that burning millions of tons of coal and oil every year has any impact upon the atmosphere. Conservatives want to use the same energy sources that our grandparents used.

Liberals are interested in exploring newer energy sources such as hybrid cars, electric cars, solar energy, wind energy, and so on. Certainly many present day examples of these technologies are terrible, but liberals hope that we can learn from them and make future technologies better. Liberals want our grandchildren to use better sources of energy.

In summary: conservatives want to remain like our grandparents and liberals want a new future for our grandchildren. I'll share another theory soon. Please write your thoughts, too.

Dennis Knepp

Moses Lake