The Biggest Problem with Liberalism

It doesn’t work.

It should always be stated so clearly: the problem with Liberalism is that it doesn’t work. It is inadequate to help us because it misdiagnoses the human condition, calling people inherently good when we lean instead toward secrecy, sin, and selfishness.

The Primary Difference Between Liberals and Conservatives, Part II

So who’s correct? Which view of humanity best describes the way we actually are? Most of you won’t believe it at first, but for the most part the reality is that people are basically evil (but exceedingly valuable). This is why Liberalism doesn’t work. It relies on an erroneous foundation that believes people are intrinsically good (but not very valuable). As a result, it gets wrong nearly all resulting responses.

Don’t believe people are evil? Consider the natural state of children. They don’t need to be taught to be dishonest, selfish, disobedient, or to hit other children. Those things come naturally to children.

What about adults? No one trains us to be lazy, lustful, gluttonous, angry, proud, power hungry, irresponsible or ungrateful—and yet we are all of those things. These things need to be trained out of both young and old, and closely guarded against if they are to be avoided at all. And, when we are caught in some transgression, is our first response to stand up, take responsibility and make amends for our act? Generally not. Our first impulse is to lie, cover up, and try to weasel a way out of it.

And it doesn’t work to claim that people are basically good, but that we are corrupted by “society.” How could society be a bad influence if it is nothing more than a collection of people, all of whom are intrinsically good?

We do have a few basic impulses that are good, like the love of parents and children for each other. But the majority of good values and behaviors come from outside ourselves, eventually tracing back to God’s commandments.

Put simply, badness is the human condition. The Bible puts it like this: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)”

We have a natural gravity toward depravity. The function of government must therefore be to restrain our natural appetites, not facilitate them. The answer to crime isn’t to just legalize everything. The purpose of government must be to restrain evil—our evil. To diagnose our condition otherwise is to condemn our resulting actions to failure.

The Primary Difference Between Liberals and Conservatives, Part I

The first, greatest factor determining whether one is a Liberal or a Conservative is what one believes about the nature of humanity. Liberals view human beings as inherently good, but not particularly valuable. Conservatives take the opposite view; seeing people as inherently evil, but enormously valuable.

These two positions are in complete opposition to each other. At most, only one can be correct. Before deciding which that is, let’s look at the results each position has on one’s worldview.

If people are inherently good—if their first impulse is to do good—then the government’s role is one of facilitator. It exists to aid people in overcoming whatever might be preventing them from achieving success. If people are good, they should be allowed to do whatever they want to do. If they do evil, it is because they have been influenced or corrupted by some outside force, like society or religion.

If people are also not very valuable, then it doesn’t matter if their actions are destructive. Abortion, homosexuality, teen sex, pornography, the destruction of the traditional family, fatherless children, assisted suicide, euthanasia, drug use, crime, and political scandals are no big deal. In such a world, the way one feels trumps actual wellbeing, even the wellbeing of others. To those who do not value others much, Conservatives seem way too uptight.

If people are inherently evil—if their first impulse is to do wrong—then the government’s role is to restrain evil. If people’s hearts are evil, they should often be kept from doing what they want to do. To the extent that they do good—or even know about good—it is because of the influence of an outside force, i.e., God.

However, if we are also enormously valuable (because we are made in God’s image), then government should pass laws to protect us from each other. Abortion, homosexuality, teen sex, pornography, etc., are not matters of personal choice, but are activities damaging to the common good, and need to be legislated against. Individual wellbeing (as defined by God) trumps feelings or desires. To people who hold this view, Liberals seem dangerous.

So which position best describes the way we really are? Come back next time for an answer.

P.S. If you disagree with the above, or you find parts of yourself in both positions, odds are you regularly vote against your own most treasured values.