“What makes you a Leftist?” Unfortunately, if they will respond at all, it is something like, “care for the environment,” or “human rights” or something.
But that more than a little superficial: There is simply no Conservative I have ever met who wants to rape the environment or who despises human rights! It is SUCH a red herring!
I think that such a response shows thinking that is about a millimeter deep and that has been captured by a dishonest sub-culture and MSM. It is a reflexive catechism, not a deeply intellectually-considered stance. It is a caricature.
I think there are several important issues surrounding power and force, but there is a much more foundational issue in play, here: What has been shown to work?
See, Leftism in general is fundamentally Rationalist in nature–what sounds good right now; What makes rational sense. It is the intellectual equivalent of two college freshmen smoking a joint in their dorm room and saying, “DOOD! What if…”
Conservatism, on the other hand, is fundamentally Empirical in nature–what has been demonstrated to work in the past! The past is a key to the future. Yes, there is assessment and some inevitable theorizing, but unlike a Leftism/Rationalism, that theorizing is an adjunct that must be defended, not the entire foundation of knowledge!
So as a Conservative, I really don’t live in the past, but the past lives in me! Historical Empiricism.
Are their inherent logical weaknesses in such an approach? Oh certainly; On the research side, one can get overly biologically reductionistic, for example (though to be fair, that leap is an application of Rationalism to the issue at hand). But still, the risks are far less with Empiricism than with Rationalism. FAR less.
The bottom line is that I have a good answer to the question, “Why are you a Conservative?” Leftist simply have no socially acceptable answer to the question, “Why are you a Leftist?”
They can honestly cite ignorance, pride, Rationalism über alles, and love of power and dominion. Those are not exactly socially acceptable answers. So is there anything else that is unique to Leftism?