Instead of conservatives and liberals continuing to hack away at each other, it would be interesting to see the dialog move to a more constructive level. Namely, what is it, really, that we would like to see as a vision of our society and what role should government play in realizing that vision.

I think that liberals have a pretty consistent vision of what our society should be like. It begins with an idea of community in which people care about one another. Thus, children should have the benefits of good nutrition, healthy surroundings, and education. They should not have to go to work in factories in order to support their struggling families. Older citizens should not be dropped into a human dustbin just because they are no longer valuable to industry. So there should be ways in which they can live out their lives honorably and in some comfort. People in the middle should have some voice in their destiny, meaning that they should not simply live as victims to a wealthy aristocracy that treats them as a primitive "labor force." While wealth will never be distributed equitably, it should not be distributed so inequitably that the majority of people in our community live in poverty with little or no expectation of being able to better their condition.

Liberals have historically seen the Federal government as an avenue to achieving their visions because State governments are often dominated by conservative factions that do not agree. Hence, the tension between Federal and State concepts of governance revolves around these visions. [Having grown up in a suburb of Chicago, I can attest to this. The majority of people lived in the greater Chicago area, but politics was effectively dominated by the rural population of the state. As a result, the majority of people in Illinois needed the Federal government to produce programs suitable to their social needs.] Hence, liberals take literally the goals expressed in our Constitution --- especially the "general welfare" and the "blessings of liberty" --- and seek to secure these through Federal action. One way or another, government is necessary to achievement of liberal values since history makes it clear that liberal values are ignored by oligarchic and aristocratic societies.

Liberals also believe that business should be regulated so as to protect consumers. The Interstate Commerce clause gives the Federal government the power to do this. Regulation should not be abusive or lead to harassment. But people ought to know what is in the food they eat, ought to know that a car they buy is safe, ought to know that a toy they purchase won't endanger the life of their child, and ought to know that maintenance of the airplane they board is held up to a standard for safe flying.

Now, I will leave it for you to fill me in on the conservative vision of what our society should be like. Because it seems to me that it would not include child-labor laws, would rely on private education for the fortunate few, would care less for how the majority of children are raised, would certainly not allow unions and collective bargaining, indeed would probably prefer to see police forces used to beat up rebellious laborers (like in the 19th Century), and would prefer to see older citizens dying of health issues they couldn't possibly afford to deal with and otherwise put up in "poor houses" with minimal care and nutrition. What boggles my mind is that the people who benefit from this remarkable vision are something like 5% of the population who are well enough disposed with personal fortunes to actually live happily in such a society. Yet, when you look at the breakdown of liberal vs. conservative politics in this country, that 5% is joined by another 45% of the population that has nothing to gain by such an attitude and everything to lose. I'd appreciate it if you can explain that to me as well.

Personally, I paid into Social Security all my life and I am unblushing about receiving my SS check each month. Medicare is a fine benefit for older people and about $2500/year is deducted from my SS benefit for my Medicare coverage. Between my Blue Cross supplemental and prescription insurance and my Medicare I pay about $5000/year for health care. It's not like I'm on the dole!

Seriously, I'd like to know what you think the conservative vision is --- and how effectively that would play out.