Don't Think Too Deeply About This

I find the true conservatives annoying.

It is not for their militancy, though their cold rage toward the ills they wish to eradicate is disproportionate.

It is because their horizons are so narrow and their snobbishness so transparent.

If you ask a true conservative what her/his goals are, she/he will respond, "To get the conservative agenda passed into law."

When you then ask her/him what the ultimate goals of the conservative agenda are, she/he will say, "To increase the security of the lives of Japanese."

"What about bettering the lives of the citizens or increasing their happiness?"

"The government cannot be responsible for these things."

"So if the government undertakes an action to increase security that makes the citizens worse off or diminishes personal happiness, that is still OK?"

"Yes."

"Have you asked the citizens their opinions about this?"

"No. They would not understand. Well, they would--but it really takes too much time to explain it to them to make the effort worthwhile."

"Is that the reason--that there is not enough time to explain your position in a way the citizens could understand--that you categorize everything that diminishes happiness as being 'a part of Japanese tradition'?"

"What?"