I read from a recent Quora editorial, which I call because mostly it is opinions from one political group to another, that put out the difference between liberal and conservative people. His view, and I wish I could find that article to quote from, was that liberal minded people tended to be more concerned about appearances than Conservatives, such as the environment, social justice and coexisting. He used as an example the analogy that people of a liberal quirk seemed more apt to have a nice yards and nice houses with clean and tidy rooms. Conservatives on the other hand could care less and would rather be left to their own individual choices. If they choose to be a lazy slob it is their problem.
Now I for one must disagree with that example because I have many, many conservative friends who are anal retentive, clean freaks who do believe in appearances and how other people perceive them. The only people I know of who don’t care about how they look or how their lifestyle is are sociopaths. My stepson is an example of that type of person. He is also apolitical. He does what he chooses regardless of what other people might think of him or his personal appearances. People who constantly break the law, who devote themselves to doing drugs and being homeless and on the streets fits the definition of someone who doesn’t care about appearances.
While it is true that liberal leaning people are more about the group and conservatives tend to believe more on the individual, it has nothing at all to do with this notion that liberals who hold certain jobs are more about how they are perceived, than conservatives who hold more blue-collar type jobs and don’t care how they look. The author apparently only saw a portion of that dynamic and tried to convince everyone that it is accurate. It can’t be further from the truth.
The military are a group of mostly conservative minded people who are very aware of how they are perceived, and many are punished for not being in uniform, not adhering to certain standards of conduct and esprit de corp. The individual is not important to the mission, but the unit or team is of utmost important so the mission is successfully executed.
The same goes with most companies including the lowly janitor or delivery driver. There are dress codes that must be adhered to, policies and procedures that must be followed and an attitude of fellowship that must be maintained for that company to be successful.
I think the author of this editorial he wrote needs to reevaluate what differentiates a liberal from a conservative because he doesn’t really understand what is going on. Appearances are what matters to everyone regardless of their political leanings.
Jerry Schellhammer 