The "Biggest Bully" explanation of conservatives (and what to do about it).

[Note: "Liberals" and "conservatives" refer here to the American left and right wings respectively. Other countries use these terms differently.]

The distinction between liberals and conservatives is at once simpler and more complex than people like to acknowledge. This is hugely important, because if liberals are to make long-lasting, significant gains, we have to understand why conservatives act the way they do. I don't just mean, "Stop vilifying them and try to reach across the divide," because that won't work: They're not offering handshakes to reach for, and they are happily supporting widespread oppression and murder while we hand-wring about getting them to like us. (However, I will make a point or two about reaching out, near the end.) We need to understand them so that we are better equipped to talk to them, to oppose them, and to more efficiently save the human lives that they threaten. (Thanks to their confirmation bias, I am not worried about similarly enabling conservatives to understand liberals, even though all the information they would need is right here.)

I promised simple and complex. The simple part is: Conservatives want to be on the side of the biggest bully. ( The rest is behind this cut. )