For decades, the tussle between liberals and conservatives continue to exist between people in the political environment. Each side has its values and way of working out certain perspectives of the society, and they would not jump over the fence and join forces with the others. What differentiates the two groups is their moral values and perspectives. The liberal believe solemnly in the government’s action to provide equality and equal opportunities to all its citizens. The government plays a major role in protecting the civil liberties of individuals and groups, their human rights and social ills. Hence, liberals believe the government is the guarantor of most aspects of life. The conservatives believe in limited participation of the government since most of the decisions rely on personal responsibility, free markets, strong national defense and traditional American values. In the tussle between the two groups, one should understand the pros and cons of being a conservative or liberal. The paper analyses two sources that expound further on the issue.
The first source is about a young foreign artist who wants to live the American dream but finds a different perspective of his dream (Wormser 221). He sought to pull together all resources and funds available to buy his one-way ticket to America. His notions about America come from the notion created by the media sources such as films, programs, and news. It is a fantasy built by many in the third world, as they think of success and greatness in America. The young man loves the humor, commerce between impossible and possible and the droller (Wormser 222). However, he knows reaching these goals will be a hustle but it only gives him hope of making it in the country. He characterizes the country as the land of Chaplin and Keaton, characters in an American film. They both promote comedy and art in their film, something that exists the young man further; he believes they speak for others by demonstrating the laughter, joy, and easiness in the country.
His mind is set on New York City because he fantasizes about its landscape of skyscraping buildings (Wormser 222). He looks forward to making it in the city through painting the skyscrapers and tell the New York story through his eyes. Living in Rotterdam by the sea has become quite boring for him, and he sees how hard his parents struggle to meet the daily demands. Hence, he has to make a major difference in his life, and only New York will provide him the opportunity to make a difference. He sets off to the far land, leaving behind his worries of lovelessness, poverty, anger, and realism about Netherlands. However, he does not have enough resources to book himself a luxury cruise to America and opts to fly as cargo, with occasional visits to the deck (Wormser 224). He cannot paint since there are limitations to his accommodation, but it does not stop him from thinking about America.
Upon arrival, he mesmerizes about the New York City he always dreamt of while in Rotterdam. It was quite a busy place with everyone headed in different directions (Wormser 226). Every corner had a traffic light, which commands the way people move from one point to another. However, he notices that no one seems to care about his naivety since they are quite busy minding their business. He catches up with the common phrases in New York such as ‘cut corners’ when referring to making haste when walking (Wormser 228). The new language makes him feel like a child as his accent takes over most of the words that emit from his mouth. The lifestyle of New York continues to marvel him, but he quickly adjusts to it. It does not take him long to catch up with other painters in the city. His interaction with them shows the two sides of common New Yorkers.
Most of the painters in New York live as squatters, displaced by the harsh economic times. They did not choose the life since they have no hope of people living around them caring about what they can offer (Wormser 227). The painters believe in the modern times as a challenge and metaphysical enterprise. It involves making, advertising and selling their pieces for the daily bread; a challenge to them. Most of them believe in the traditional way of painting, which does not blend in with the modern times. The best they can do is look upon the works of others such as Picasso, who they emulate because of his artistic works in the modern world (Wormser 228). While people pass by the paintings without wasting more than a minute looking at them, the painters spend long minutes observing the brush strokes, volumes, and edges.
The painters believe that one day their paintings will make it to art museums and galleries, though the young man feels their hopes are quite absurd. He puts his mind on painting, and other painters seem to point out the positive and negatives sides about them (Wormser 229). However, their conversation is not quite helpful since it does not mature to anything else. One thing he learns about Picasso is the extra strength he put into his works. He is ever jovial and whistles while painting. These aspects help him visualize what he has in his mind and incorporate it with the modern art. He is a successful painter unlike Andy Asshole, an artist who dislikes how the art grew with time. Andy spends most of his time complaining about the changing world, drinking in any den and picking fights along the way (Wormser 231). The young man concludes that Picasso and Andy demonstrate the two sides of the American dream.
The characters in the story demonstrate how liberals and conservatives work in life. Jonathan Haidt describes the various characteristics as the moral roots of each side and how they perceive life (par 1). He talks of two American friends on vacation in Italy, who stumble upon ‘David’, artwork by Michelangelo. One of them stares at the statue, paying close attention to the artwork while the other feels quite embarrassed and keeps checking around to see whether people are observing them. The moral story in the example is openness to realism in life (Haidt par 4). Liberals are open to new possibilities and experiences, which makes them quite easy to commit to new discoveries in life. Conservatives stick to what they believe is right and wrong as depicted by the world. They care about people’s perception towards their lives and certain aspects of life. Hence, they are quite hard to convince in most situations.
Openness is a major issue in the American political and social scene. The conservatives care about what the future will look like if some aspects of the new world were to become law. They prefer keeping things as they were in the old times by locking out any new aspects created in the new world. However, liberals are quite accommodative to new things in life and accept all kinds of people in their inner circle. In the first source, Picasso is a liberal man as he accommodates the new art and plays with it to create most of his artwork. Andy and the other painters are conservatives, depending on the old art to make their daily earnings. However, they keep complaining about the changing times and how people continue to ignore their skills and art. They do nothing to adjust to the new world; a mindset that affects their approach to life.
In conclusion, the moral values of an individual determine their aspect of being a liberal person or conservative. There is no right or wrong in the two sides since it is a choice and not an order. However, the world determines how people advance in life and the best way is to interact with the changes.
Works Cited
Haidt, Jonathan. The moral roots of liberals and conservatives. March 2008. Web. 11 May 2016. <https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind/transcript?language=en>
Wormser, Baron. "Legend: Willem de Kooning." Sullivan, John Jeremiah and Robert Atwan. The Best American Essays 2014. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2014. 221-231. Print.
