LogFAQs > #965054435

Maybe this is an effect of "the internet is not real life". Where an issue will get more attention than regular people actually give it. But it seems to me that positions are the reverse of what would be expected.

The conservative view is that the country has limited resources. And those resources should be used to the benefit of the citizens it currently has. So for an issue like immigration where someone could become a citizen they want to limit how many do and thus preserve the ability of the country to do good over a longer time frame, even if they are not able to do much good from moment to moment.

In contrast the progressive view is opposed to national identity. If they care about citizenship or resource management it's to direct resources to non-citizens. They want to help the unfortunate and defenseless above all else. So for an issue like immigration they want to do good for the greatest number of people now, without regard for maintain their ability to do so later.

Then an issue like Roe V Wade gains prominence and they swap positions.

According to the 14 amendment "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States" Therefore anyone not born nor naturalized is not a citizen. Conservatives limit naturalization but want more people to be born as citizens even if they are unwanted and will become a drain on the resources of the country.

Progressives normally favor the rights of the more vulnerable over the rights of anyone seen as having power. However, the more vulnerable in this case aren't seen as having rights at all. Or maybe they view the unborn as wielding power... While progressives tend to be consistent in who they view as weaker or stronger, how they arrive at this hierarchy is a mystery to anyone who isn't them, as such the contradiction is more difficult to explain without using a perspective that isn't theirs. The position of the progressives seems to be to stop the unborn from potentially reaching a stage where they would care about them.

In summary:
Conservatives care about citizens. The unborn are not citizens. Yet they have rights that supersede citizens.
Progressives care a bout the weak. The unborn are not weak in their view???