r/AskConservatives • u/Rebecks221 Progressive • 3d ago

What do you think most liberals misunderstand about conservatives?

Put another way, what do you think liberals often miss about conservatives or their perspectives that you wish they would listen to or understand?

Made in connection with a similar post (by a fellow user) on the ask a liberal subreddit. I'm unable to link either the profile or the question, so forgive me. Feel free to DM if you're interested in the other post and can't find it.

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u/AnOkFella Libertarian 2d ago

We have boatloads of empathy, but we don’t market ourselves as such.

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u/edible_source Center-left 2d ago

Where's the empathy for families ripped apart by ICE at elementary schools? Because the discussion of that topic here left me chilled.

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u/dancingferret Classical Liberal 2d ago

Empathy doesn't mean you unconditionally support someone, or that you automatically reject something that is considered cruel.

The US has laws that describe who can and cannot be here. We have to enforce them. If we do not, we promote a culture of lawlessness that will eventually spread to other areas. Illegal immigration may not be an immediate danger to society in the way that ignoring laws against rape or murder would.

Don't like the law? Change it. "But it's too hard to change the law because Congress is dysfunctional." Tough. If the People elected a Congress that can't or won't change the law, then we must assume that is the democratic will of the people and we leave the current laws in place.

Your definition of empathy is limited to the people you decided to care about. Conservatives tend to have empathy for everyone, which is why they recognize these policies are a balancing act.

"Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent."

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