Left vs. Right

A brief precis of the positions taken by conservatives and liberals over the last 150 years or so:

• Liberals opposed slavery; conservatives defended it.
• Liberals favored giving African Americans the vote; conservatives opposed it.
• Liberals supported giving women the vote; conservatives opposed that too.
• Conservatives imposed Jim Crow laws and segregated the South; liberals favored equality.
• Conservatives orchestrated mass lynchings; liberals fought them.
• Conservatives exacerbated the Great Depression with their economic policies; FDR's New Deal ended it.
• Conservatives created the anti-communist witch hunts; liberals supported personal freedom.
• Liberals enacted the Civil Rights Act; conservatives opposed it.
• GDP is always lower under conservative governments; always higher under liberal ones.
• Most people are worse off under conservative economic policies; liberal policies allow everyone to improve their status.
• Conservative opposition to universal health care shortens life expectancy and increases infant mortality; lives are longer and fewer babies die with liberal health policies.

Way to go conservatives, keep up the good work!