Competing worldviews

Dennis Prager has written an excellent piece called "Why the Left doesn't blame Muslims for Muslim violence". Essentially what he says is that there is a view among some on the Left whereby everything and everyone under the sun except for perpetrators themselves should be blamed when bad things like terrorism take place.

Bringing it down a level, I think we can take Prager one further when looking closer to home. Homelessness, poverty, crime ... a lot of the time, the following questions need to be asked:

"Why are you in the situation you're in?"

"Did you do anything in particular over the course of your life which may have led to you being here today?"

Not only when it comes to Muslim violence will we see the Left blaming society, parenting, racism, evil corporations, TV, advertising ... everything except the person who should take responsibility for their own actions.

Therein lies the difference.

Conservatives believe that people have free will and one's lot in life is primarily - not always, but primarily - the result of choices that one makes. Liberals on the other hand think that one's lot in life is primarily determined by societal influences which they have no control over.

If that's the case, then why should we be held accountable or responsible for anything we do as individuals, whether that be burning down an embassy or something more mundane like quitting school early or getting pregnant outside of marriage?

I know which side makes more sense to me.