One of the biggest wrongs we can commit against the ideology of another is to sum up their ideology in one or two word sound bites (examples: the right, the left, conservative, liberal, Republican, democrat, libertarian, green). And yet it seems to be a necessary evil to address the group that is the focus of our discussion. With that disclaimer in mind, I'd like to make some observations about what I see as the right's key misunderstanding about the left (knowing that a good number of you won't fall wholly into either category).

You see, for all the disagreements I have with the left (and there are many, as those who incline towards the left will readily verify), There is one generality, one stereotype that fits them almost universally. While the right tends to differ over their reasons for involvement, the left hold their ideology almost entirely for altruistic reasons. You can believe, as I do, that the programs and ideas they suggest are often misguided, but to disagree about their intentions is to do a massive disservice to these individuals, whose intentions are, for the most part, good.

I believe the reason that many in the left have "lost their way" is because they have proceeded into action with fallacious assumptions. The argument often used by the left that proceeding into Iraq with faulty intelligence was wrong is equally true of some of the actions and initiatives undertaken by the left; their emotion stirs them into making faulty decisions at times.

A perfect example of this is the Child Protective Services system, which most of you know I oppose pretty strongly. There exists absolutely NO DOUBT in my mind that the foundation of CPS was almost wholly good, altruistic, and honorable, or that the VAST MAJORITY of social workers within CPS have VERY honorable intentions. My concern is that CPS has been coopted by a bureaucracy that's unable to handle it, and that social workers are placed on a quota system that often demands they remove a child even if they perceive better solutions and more realistic solutions for the families they intend to serve. They also are often called to the role of being investigators, despite being inadequately trained in objective investigative techniques. This is one of the many reasons I support privatization.

Because we have become so partisan, we've refused to see what should be seen as the good in "the other side". The left should see that the right is not composed of "greedy, selfish" individuals, but of individuals that believe (at least in theory) that government should be smaller, that more decisions be made at the state and local level, where administrators and officials can better determine what's appropriate for THEIR constituency (one of my favorite sayings is "what works in Texas don't work in Massachussetts"). In essence, the right wants more "bang for the buck". The left, similarly, is not made up completely of "big government, tax and spend liberals", but of individuals who want to see every person born on this planet get a fair shake, have good opportunities, and have a reasonable standard of living. There's actually a good deal of room for compromise between the two.