Victor Davis Hanson takes a look at what’s behind the liberal/conservative double standard when it comes to morality and hypocrisy.
So, then, what accounts for the hypocrisies?
Is there some generic, overarching explanation that accounts for the lopsided charge of hypocrisy?
I think we must go back to the nature of the liberal, egalitarian mind that professes the greater care for the welfare of the commons. In contrast, the conservative, the Republican, the libertarian, in dog-eat-dog fashion believes that life is sort of a tragic free-for-all, and to the victor goes the spoils, who then by his own sense of right must help the poorer and less well off. The latter are less sensitive, less caring, more goal orientated; the former are mellower, more sharing, and pit the power of ideas, morality, and fairness against the overwhelming power of money and influence.
Presto! The beleaguered, more moral liberal must be given greater leeway, even can employ sometimes questionable means, since his ends are the more exalted. Yes, Al Gore gets to fly private, and have a few extra rooms in his mansion, but he is in pain, sacrificing on the planet’s behalf, and needs a more ample footprint than the rest of us to save us from ourselves.
