Right Wing Religious Wacko (RWRW)

Abortion, welfare, social security reform, smaller government…these are a sampling of issues that divide many conservatives and liberals. I believe the difference of opinion lies, in part, with how both sides view “personal responsibility” and how it should be applied to today’s issues. I will argue in this post that conservatives tend to have an internal locus of control whereas liberals tend to have an external locus of control.

Rotter (1954) introduced the concept of “Locus of Control.”

According to Wilderdom:

If you read personal reactions to the bombing in London, it becomes evident that there are those persons who conveniently blame America or Britain for yesterday’s attacks. This assertion repulses me because the thinking is so flawed. Here are a few ridiculous reactions:

• From the Daily Kos:

  “There are consequences to the mess in Iraq. And today, we’re seeing one of them. Unfortunately, it won’t be the last.”

• From HuguesT on Slashdot message boards:

  “You fight terrorists with the Law. You treat terrorists as criminals. You hunt masterminds with Interpol. You capture them, and give them a fair trial.”

• Charmaine Yoest reports on Power Line:
  

  I interviewed three very ordinary, normal teenaged English Muslims, one with short spiky hair (dressed not unlike my 10 year-old-dude). All three seem to be parroting Muslim talking points. “The bombings were a conspiracy by Blair to generate support for the war,” they recited in a charming British accent.

• From Nyago on Slashdot message boards:
  

  Oh please, then what triggered 9/11? “War. The US attacked places bin Laden cared about. It doesn’t justify his actions but it does appear to be the motivating factor.”

I think all too often, liberals tend to promote the avoidance of personal responsibility. When I see these arguments like, “Well, al Qaeda attacked America/Spain/Britain because of what America/Spain/Britain previously did,” I pity the short-sightedness. It could go back and forth all day. It seems to me that persons who blame Bush for 9/11 or Blair for 7/7 really have warped thinking. To use reasoning like that is like an adulterous wife blaming her husband for “causing her” to become unfaithful. Or the serial rapist who blames his own childhood abuse to explain his criminal actions. Does this mean that liberals would blame the parents of the rapists too? No, it makes no sense. Passing the blame is pathetic. It might provide context, but it certainly should not explain away personal responsibility.

In conclusion, my offering of facetiously arguing that liberals tend to have “external locus of control” personalities hopes to prove a point: Liberals must learn to value personal responsibility and hold accountable those who do not take responsibility for their actions. Whether it be on issues of abortion, social security reform, welfare, or the war on terror, liberals must accept that individuals are not “fated” to a life of helplessness, but are in control of their own choices and actions. Sure, we’ve made mistakes along the way, but America has taken responsibility for its actions ever since it declared its independence from Britain over 200 years ago. If liberals blame America and Britain for “receiving payback” over actions in Iraq, then I think they might be out of touch with most of the world’s reaction to these events. As the kind people over at Mod-Blog put it (and reported by CNN), “The Arab/Muslim world’s reaction to the London bombing…is not what the terrorists must have expected.”

Tags: liberal, conservative, locus of control, politics, worldview, personality, Rotter, 9/11, 7/7, terrorism, al Qaeda, London, London bombing, responsibility, personal responsibility

This entry was posted on Friday, July 8th, 2005 at 12:08 pm and is filed under Politics, War on Terror. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.