NationStates Jolt Archive

I’m hoping someone could help me out here. In listening to the debates between the Left and Right in America (AKA Liberal and Conservative cat fights), it seems to me that the main division comes down to thus:

Liberals seem to believe that America is not perfect, has never been perfect, but could be better if we worked towards it.

Conservatives seem to believe that America is not perfect, but was in the past (or close to it), and that America can get better by going back towards this perfect time.

Now I have studied history quite a bit, and as far as I can tell, the adage of the more things change, the more they stay the same is quite true. The details have changed, but the problems have always been with us, and it seems that they always will be.

So my question is, WHAT THE HELL ARE WE WORKING TOWARDS? For Liberals; what is this better America you want? For Conservatives; when was this Golden Age you want to go back to?

And yes, I know NS was made to answer these types of questions, but I am curious as to how this applies to the real world.

While man is still alive, there will be no perfection anywhere. It doesn't matter if you're taking a nostalgiac look back at the past or looking forward to a Utopian future.

People (everywhere, not just Americans) are naturally selfish, brutish animals whose instinct is to annihilate one another. Conditions won't improve until people stop being idealistic and start being realistic about this fact.

So my question is, WHAT THE HELL ARE WE WORKING TOWARDS? For Liberals; what is this better America you want? For Conservatives; when was this Golden Age you want to go back to?

The problem with "looking back" and "looking forward" for the model of a perfect society is that both perspectives only see the good and ignore the bad.

A conservative might look at the 1950s and think "innocence! apple pie! patriotism! family values!", while a liberal might (quite correctly) see "racism! sexism! homophobia! McCarthyism!"

And the problem with the "liberal" idea that the country is moving toward perfection is that it ignores the fact that, as a whole, humans themselves do not change.
We get more technology, information, and luxuries, but we're still the same greedy fools we were 500 years ago. In order to truly move towards perfection, that's what needs to change. The problem is, it doesn't change.

The problem with "looking back" and "looking forward" for the model of a perfect society is that both perspectives only see the good and ignore the bad.

A conservative might look at the 1950s and think "innocence! apple pie! patriotism! family values!", while a liberal might (quite correctly) see "racism! sexism! homophobia! McCarthyism!"

And the problem with the "liberal" idea that the country is moving toward perfection is that it ignores the fact that, as a whole, humans themselves do not change.
We get more technology, information, and luxuries, but we're still the same greedy fools we were 500 years ago. In order to truly move towards perfection, that's what needs to change. The problem is, it doesn't change.
Which is why I'm asking why the big arguments then.

There is no perfection. The world and society are in a constant state of flux and change. That's why the Founding Fathers of the United States included provisions so that the country would change according to the times, instead of remaining a monolithic structure that would crumble under the pressures of history,

No direction can promise you perfection; at best, adaptation.