It is now time for a trip into Andrew's less than illustrious past, as it helps to make a point.*

First, a confession. In my teens I was a liberal idiot. Not just any idiot liberal, but the sort of tremendously idiotic liberal that only a bookish wannabe-intellectual can be. I read not just Marx, but Bakunin and other anarcho-communists, and I really believed it. I believed what Jeremy Rifkin wrote. I bought into the whole left wing world view. I went from punk rocker to neo-hippy and back. Only three things kept me from becoming one of those idiot rock-hurling protesters. First, my innate laziness. Second, a vestigial respect for the law thanks to a father who had spent his life in police work. Third, I was popular enough with the young ladies that I did not have the time to pour into political activism. If not for laziness and a social life, however, I could have become the 1980's equivalent of the WTC rioters.

By the time I hit 20 that was over. I had first found Ayn Rand, and then later von Mises and others, and had developed into quite a dedicated Objectivist. That only lasted a year or two, as Rand's shortcomings became obvious pretty quickly, as did the uncomfortably cult-like atmosphere of a lot of Objectivism, and I drifted into the libertarian wing of the conservative movement, spending my free time at college arguing politics in the student lounges. In fact, I did it so loudly that the Campus Republicans at my university drafted me as their vice president even though I never actually joined the club.

The only problem is that an intellectual understanding of conservative principles does not always translate into actually living those same values. At 20 I may have understood quite well how the government should behave, but I certainly didn't understand how I should behave. Maybe it was just inertia, as it is always easier to continue in the same way as you always have, or maybe I just hadn't quite grasped everything about conservatism yet, but whatever the reason, despite my political beliefs, I continued to spend a lot of time drinking and generally wasting my life with the same drug-addled art students and others I had known before.

All of which brings me at long last to my point. The people I knew would accept almost anything. Heroin addict? Unwed mother? Stripper? Prostitute? On parole for manslaughter? Drug dealer? All of those were fine. But when I mentioned that I was voting for a Republican candidate in an upcoming election, I was met with actual hatred. People asked me "How could you do that?" and meant it. They were honestly offended that I could even consider voting for a Republican.

For a time I wondered why liberals tend to be so offended by conservatives, but eventually I figured it out.

For most conservatives, politics is only one facet of their lives, and a small one at that. They may feel strongly about their politics, may even write about it here on Townhall. They may spend hours writing about conservative beliefs, but it still is, in the end, just a part of their lives. Family, work, religion, a whole host of things makes up most conservatives' lives, making politics just one more aspect of who they are. That is one of the many reasons conservative web sites tend to be more open to liberal comments and why conservatives tend to be a little less nasty to liberals than liberals are to conservatives.**

On the other hand, while liberals also have many facets to their lives, their liberal ideology tends to permeate everything. They draw a lot of their identity from their politics. They think that being liberal makes them just a little more moral (and perhaps a little smarter) than everyone else. They draw a lot of comfort from the thought that by being liberal they are doing a good deed. It is their political identity that gives them worth.

Which is why they are so angry when confronted by a conservative. By admitting to being a conservative, you not only admit to being evil in their eyes, but you also challenge their self-worth. You see, if you are a conservative, it means you don't think they are automatically smart and good because of their liberal beliefs. In other words, you are challenging them to prove their worth, rather than just assuming their liberalism proves how good they are. It is an affront to them. To a liberal your conservatism is an implicit criticism of their value.

Of course, conservatives are really thinking nothing of the sort. As I said, politics are just a part of life to most of us, few conservatives immediately draw conclusions about others based on their political affiliation***. So, please, any liberals out there reading this, do not take it so badly when you meet a conservative. We may not think being liberal proves you are a good person, but we don't think it makes you evil either. Just accept the fact that we don't agree, relax and speak to us reasonably, you may find that we are not quite as evil and judgmental as you assume.

And to any conservatives out there, please don't make a liar of me. Be kind to the poor misguided leftists you meet. At least try to convince them they are mistaken, rather than just dismissing them out of hand. You may be surprised how many will actually listen, and a few may even change. I know I did many, many years ago. It takes time, but a lot of leftists can be won over if you just take some time.

---------------------------------------------

* I tend to think that I am very reticent to reveal personal information, as I know I feel uncomfortable speaking about myself. But looking back over my blog, I see that I have recently posted quite a bit of personal information. It surprises me, but it appears, despite my discomfort at posting it, I have been quite forthcoming in writing about myself.

** If you doubt that conservatives are more tolerant than liberals, try to post a liberal comment on Townhall and a conservative one on DailyKos (or Huff'n'Puff Post, or Democratic Underground, or any other hard-left site), and see which one is still posted at the end of the day. Even better, count the death threats posted in response. It may surprise you to see how nasty the "tolerant" liberals can be.

*** Before anyone complains about the fact that I generalize about liberals, please note that I generalize only to the extent that I assume liberals have liberal political views, which seems true by definition, and usually have liberal social views, which seems to be generally true. I do not assume anything about liberals beyond that.