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Liberals
and Conservatives
by Fritz Pettyjohn, California
The division of the
human family into its two distinct branches, liberals
and conservatives, occurred some 20,000 years ago. Until then all humans
coexisted as members of small bands of nomadic hunter/gatherers. A thousand
generations ago, in the pivotal event of societal evolution, beer was
invented. This epochal innovation was both the foundation of modern
civilization and the occasion of the great bifurcation of humanity into
its
two distinct subgroups.
Once beer was discovered,
our prehistoric forebears decided it was time to
settle down. Making beer required grain, and securing a steady supply
of it
ordained the invention of agriculture.
After that was accomplished,
ancient man quickly, and unfairly, consigned
actual cultivation to women.
Men couldn't just
run off, willy-nilly, however. Neither the glass bottle
nor the aluminum can had yet been invented, so it was necessary to stick
pretty close to home, and the brewery.
This left our male
ancestors with a lot of time on their hands, and led to
the division, which persists to this day, of the species.
Some men tried to
conserve remnants of the old way of life (hence the term
"conservative") by spending their days in the open field in
the dangerous
pursuit of big game animals. At night they would roast their prey at a
big
barbecue, and afterwards sat around the fire drinking beer and telling
off
color jokes.
Other, more timid,
souls stayed closer to home. They are responsible for
the domestication of cats and the invention of group therapy. Mostly,
they
sat around worrying about how life wasn't fair and concocting elaborate
scemes to "liberate" themselves from inequity (thus their designation
as
"liberals"). In the evening they gathered around their fire,
nibbling on
fruit and nuts, sharing their innermost feelings.
Today some liberals
try to pretend they're really sort of conservative, and
sometimes succeed in confusing people. The following are a few tips to
use
in distinguishing the two types.
By definition liberals
believe in big government and high taxes. Life is
unfair and the government is there to do something about it. Most people
are too stupid to spend untaxed income wisely, and high taxes allow liberals
in government to do a better job of it.
Conservatives don't
like government, and, aside from the miltary, wish it
would just go away. They hate taxes, regulations, speed limits, and small
cars.
Typical conservatives
are Arnold Scharzenegger, Ronald Reagan, and, up there
with the Big Man in the Sky, the incomparable John Wayne.
Typical liberals are
Dustin Hoffman, Shirley McLaine, and Pee Wee Herman.
All conservatives drink beer. American beer.
Some liberals like
imported beer, but most prefer white wine or foreign
water from a bottle.
Liberals like to drive
Volvos and Saabs because they're made in socialist
Sweden. They like to eat weird food because it's un-American.
Your basic conservative
vehicle, especially in Alaska, is the Chevy
Suburban. It's big, it's American, it's four wheel drive, and it sucks
up
the gas. Conservatives eat beef, which they (surprise!) like to barbecue.
Big game hunters are
conservative. Interior decorators are liberal.
Liberals invented
the designated hitter rule in baseball because it wasn't
"fair" to make the poor pitcher take his turn at bat.
Conservatives, inspired
by a remark of the legendary Pittsburgh Steeler
linebacker Jack Lambert, believe quarterbacks should be required to wear
skirts, so they can more easily be distinguished from real football players.
James Brown and Ray
Charles are conservatives. Michael Jackson and Milli
Vanilli are liberals.
Most social workers,
personal injury lawyers, journalists, and group
therapists are liberals. Most ranchers, loggers, professional soldiers,
and
steeplejacks are conservatives.
Liberal jurors distrust
the prosecutors and police. Conservatives figure
the defendant must be guilty or he wouldn't be on trial.
Most conservatives
not only believe in the death penalty, they would
cheerfully implement it, personally, if called upon to do so.
Liberals think capital
punishment is a barbaric relic, and unfair to boot.
Liberals believe Europeans
are, generally speaking, far more enlightened
than Americans. Conservatives think they're basically decadent, as
evidenced by their complete absence in the NFL. (Place kickers don't
count).
Typical conservative
movies are "Raising Arizona", "Patton", and "Conan
the
Barbarian".
Typical liberal movies
are "Prince of Tides", "Last Tango in Paris", and
"The Big Chill".
The quitessential
liberal is the handicapper, the person who decides how
much extra weight to saddle the faster horses with in order to make the
race
"fair".
The American cowboy,
of course, is your basic, full bore conservative. The
following story, part of this writer's family folklore, demonstrates why.
A
hundred years ago an Englishman in South Dakota was trying to find the
owner
of a huge cattle ranch. He rode up to one of the ranch hands and asked,
"Excuse me, but could you tell me where to find your Master?"
To which the cowboy replied, "That sumbitch hasn't been born."
If you have any thoughts on this piece, send them to "tex AT
whackingday.com" and I'll print them here......
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