This is because of zero-sum thinking, which seems as if it is rather foundational to conservative thinking. The thinking goes like this: if negroes or gays or transes are afforded any rights, then my rights and privileges are thereby diminished. Nobody wants that. So if homeless or immigrants or poors in general receive anything, it is seen as a kind of theft.
This is why shipping refugees to Martha’s vineyard seems like such a coup. The underlying conviction is that of course those damn yankee liberals don’t want to share what they have with Venezuelan asylum seekers any more than anyone else. Putting them in a position to have to do so will reveal the assumed hypocrisy.
This is also why communism is seen as so abhorrent. it denies the assumption that hierarchy, with rank and privilege and some having more than others is the natural order of the universe. Everyone getting an equal share of something - say pie, or even rights, for example- upsets the natural order. Because there is only ever a finite amount, everyone would get very little. The conservative much prefers the system wherein they get more and others get less.
Take in refugees and care for them? “Why should I?” Asks the conservative. “When others suffer from hunger and deprivation while I am fat and comfortable, all is as it should be. That is proof enough that our system is the better one.”
This is because of zero-sum thinking, which seems as if it is rather foundational to conservative thinking. The thinking goes like this: if negroes or gays or transes are afforded any rights, then my rights and privileges are thereby diminished. Nobody wants that. So if homeless or immigrants or poors in general receive anything, it is seen as a kind of theft.
This is why shipping refugees to Martha’s vineyard seems like such a coup. The underlying conviction is that of course those damn yankee liberals don’t want to share what they have with Venezuelan asylum seekers any more than anyone else. Putting them in a position to have to do so will reveal the assumed hypocrisy.
This is also why communism is seen as so abhorrent. it denies the assumption that hierarchy, with rank and privilege and some having more than others is the natural order of the universe. Everyone getting an equal share of something - say pie, or even rights, for example- upsets the natural order. Because there is only ever a finite amount, everyone would get very little. The conservative much prefers the system wherein they get more and others get less.
Take in refugees and care for them? “Why should I?” Asks the conservative. “When others suffer from hunger and deprivation while I am fat and comfortable, all is as it should be. That is proof enough that our system is the better one.”