Another way in which Conservatives and Liberals are different

Much is being made and reported of Newt Gingrich getting emotional and tearing up when talking about his mother the other day in Iowa. I understand that; I still get pretty teary-eyed when talking about my father, who passed away about the same time as Newt's mother.

But, it's the quote by Newt which is most telling to me:

And my whole emphasis on brain science comes in directly from dealing -- see, I'm going to be emotional -- of dealing with, you know, the real problems of real people in my family.
And so it's not a theory. It's, in fact, you know, my mother.

(emphasis mine)

See, with Conservatives, issues are only important when they directly affect them. Here, Newt cares about brain science because it directly affected his mother, so he's all in favor of spending government money for research. Things that don't affect him, like unemployment compensation, he's not so concerned about.

Liberals, on the other hand, are generally able to see issues that affect other people, realize that it's in the greater societal good to do something about them, and then actually do something about it. See empathy, compassion.

If you're a Conservative, then when you need a helping hand, it's OK (a farm in which Michelle Bachmann has an interest received over $250K in federal subsidies), but when someone else needs a hand, then it's "pull yourself up by your bootstraps." See hypocrisy.