Eloquence
Monday, October 05, 2009
I've heard left wingers lament the fact that right wingers are so much more eloquent. As someone who switched sides about ten years ago, this has always fascinated me. Fortunately, I've just worked out what the reason is.
The answer comes back to the old adage that 'if you're not a socialist at 20, you've got no heart; if you're still a socialist at 40, you've got no brain', and is actually quite straightforward. It also explains that particular adage. People can think with their hearts, or their brains, but not both at the same time. While society accepts young people thinking with their hearts, and voting left wing, people are expected to be a bit more cynical by the time they reach middle age, to think with their brains, and so vote right wing.
Those who vote left tend to do so because they have a vague notion that we should try to help out those less fortunate. The thought is nore really formed fully, but it just seems that it's good to help others out. Those who vote right have thought through all the issues and have used reason to end up where they are. They have realised that although there's a lot of money spent by left wing governments, it doesn't always end up in the right places. They have also realised that Government money doesn't just magically appear from somewhere, but is paid in directly by taxpayers and so any spending should be accountable to taxpayers. Government money is taxpayer money, but in the left wing mind there is often a disconnect between the two.
It's easy to write down what's in the head, because all you're doing is writing down all of your logical thought processes. The logic of the right wing is sometimes flawed, which I freely admit, but it is normally present. And even when it's flawed it can be expressed quickly, easily and fluently - the right wing are eloquent, even when they're wrong. It's not so easy to write down the inner workings of the heart, as the lover and the lunatic well know. And even if there may be some good logic to back up their viewpoints, the left have often reached their conclusions by some other means, so can't use that logic.
This is not to belittle those who do vote left (that can wait until later). The human heart is a very important thing, it makes us what we are and it helps us in our day-to-day dealings with all those around us. It is what makes humans humans, and it prevents society from being pulled apart by misanthropes and self-centred egotists.
But politics doesn't always involve normal human dealings, as everyone knows. It's a brutal, nasty game. It's also not about our day-to-day individual relations, but rather about the body that doles out our taxes and tells us what we can and can't do, and I'm not sure that it's a good idea to leave that to the heart, when the head is a much better judge of these things. By all means think with your hearts when dealing with people, but when you're dealing with politics I will trust my head instead.
There is a second reason, of course. Intelligent people tend to be more eloquent, and intelligent people tend to vote right. But I'll leave that for another day.