Ken

THIS IS THE EIGHTH INSTALLMENT OF MY REPLY TO Chris, which begins here .

I ended yesterday's post, Chris, by suggesting that when it comes to basic values:

1. Neither conservatives or liberals want anyone to suffer,
2. Both conservatives and liberals want people to get the sense of independence and satisfaction that comes from standing on your own two feet and working hard,
3. We both want the United States to prosper, and that
4. Conservatives and liberals are equally intelligent.

I hope you won't disagree with any of that.

In fact, the only difference between a liberal and a conservative is the information they base their different conclusions on—the world of ideas they live in.

Liberals live in (no offense, but there's no way of saying it without saying it) the real world, where

THIS IS THE SEVENTH INSTALLMENT OF MY RESPONSE TO Chris which begins here .

Yesterday, Chris, I responded to your suggestion that we perform an experiment, to assess the relative practicality of liberal and conservative approaches to government.

You suggested that we...

...just try it with a two states first and see what happens. We get Texas and you can have California. I believe that will not put either at a disadvantage. We both have ports, natural resources and some of the same problems in which to deal.

I suggested that we could do just that in a moderate way by comparing the two states now.

You and I would both agree that California is significantly more liberal than Texas, which is significantly more conservative.

So they seem a fair test of how the two approaches work.

Here's how Texas and California compare at the moment:

THIS IS THE SIXTH INSTALLMENT OF MY RESPONSE TO Chris, which begins here .

In describing your proposed experiment, Chris, you say:

...we will use plain old hard work and private property rights to prosper and provide.

Again—I have two responses:

1. First, the implication seems to be that liberals like me are against "plain old hard work and private property rights."

THIS IS THE FIFTH INSTALLMENT IN MY REPLY TO Chris, which begins here.

Toward the end of your comment, Chris, you suggest an experiment:

So, why do you not just give it a go on your own and see how you do. If you survive and create a “Utopia” where everyone works just as hard as everyone else and everyone gets just what they need and nothing more, so be it.

I have two responses to that:

THIS IS THE FOURTH INSTALLMENT IN MY REPLY TO Chris, a conservative reader, which begins here .

I ended the previous post in the midst of responding to your desire, Chris, for:

...government to remain at the most local level possible.

I pointed out that, as a liberal, I am in complete agreement with that principle: empowering local control is what those dreaded "community organizers" are all about.

I also pointed out that the most local that control can get is the freedom of the individual to live his or her life as he or she sees fit—without any government intervention at all, unless that person is hurting someone else.

Take another current example from California—proposition 8.