A CONVERSATION BETWEEN A CONSERVATIVE AND A LIBERAL
So, we're flying out of Texas, so I'm thinking, safe...nope, I get to sit to the only liberal in Texas.
We get to talk, and we're talking about different policy things, and we're talking about civil liberties, and we're talking about rights, and we're talking about responsibility. And at one point, I stop her in the middle of the conversation. I said, "You know, I find something really interesting about this. During the course of our conversation, we have both agreed on the problems. We're trying to address poverty, we're trying to address sickness, we're trying to address violence. We've even agreed on a lot of the instances, we want people to be happy, healthy, prosperous, and free. The difference is that you're a lot more comfortable with violence than I am." Miss. Dual PhD College Professor was taken back by that statement. In fact, the way she worded it was, "you're going to have to explain what you just said."
The first thing I said was, "I don't mean any offense and I know it sounds kind of wild because you're a college professor, and I was a Green Beret. I've actually been in a lot of situations where I was very comfortable with violence. You're just comfortable with it against innocent people, and I'm not. And here's what I mean by that. You and I will both see a problem. The dam breaks in Louisiana, and it floods, and people are suffering. I see that problem, I think to myself, as a Christian, as an American, as a human being, I have to do something! Let's donate resources! Let's send money! Let's go down! Let's do what we can to go help the people that are suffering because we have an obligation to our fellow men and women to do that. And I ask you, maybe, would you like to come along? Would you like to donate? Would you like to do something? Maybe you want to write a check. Maybe you want to get on a plane and go down there. But no matter what you say, the option and the choice is yours. And if you choose to do something other than what I am asking for, you get to leave the conversation in peace. So now on the other side, you see a problem within society and your automatic response is, we need a government program. We need government intervention. And so, Nick, we're going to raise your taxes, or we're going to regulate you, or we're going to set up a statute or a law. What happens if I say "no"? Do I get to live in peace? You will deprive me of liberty and property, and depending on how much I resist, you will deprive me of a lot more. You'll take away my kids. You'll take away my home. Not because I didn't want to help, but because I didn't want to help the same way you did. How do you square that with the belief that you're a tolerant person?"
And she looked at me and she said, "I have never thought of it that way before." She actually asked me for my card, and we had an e-mail correspondence after that flight. Again, I didn't say anything brilliant. I'm ripping it off from people far smarter than me. But some of those powerful conversations that you will have start with not assuming that the other person has some sort of evil design.
In many cases, they've just been convinced of something that isn't true. One of the most important things that you can point out to some certain people is that they're the ones that have chosen coercion, aggression, and violence. Because if you don't do it the way they want to do it, they're going to punish you, and they're going to use the government to do.
So, the argument that we're making in almost every single conversation we have with people on the left is not to say, we want the power to coerce you to do what we think you should do. We want you to be free to make your own decisions. What we ask for in return is that you be responsible for the consequences. Because liberty without responsibility is nothing more than licentiousness.
When you can start to chip away at that false notion that what they believe is rooted in kindness or tolerance or equity or charity, or peacefulness and point out that no, that's not what you actually believe. You're actually very, very comfortable with using violence if it means getting what you want Maybe you should reevaluate that if it doesn't actually coincide with what you think you're trying to achieve.
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This was a conversation between Nick J. Freitas who is an American politician and social media influencer and a College Professor flying out of Texas. This conversation is a masterclass in intellectual jujitsu.
It takes the left's strongest claimed advantage (moral superiority + compassion) and turns it into their biggest weakness (reliance on coercion). The conservative position here isn't "we don't want to help." It's "we want to help without becoming tyrants." And when presented this cleanly, it lands hard — even on a dual PhD college professor. This is why this style of argument is so effective. It doesn't require calling the other side stupid or evil. It just requires forcing them to look at what their beliefs actually require in practice.
When you're near a leftist and they start spouting their positions of Socialism and Communism and how wonderful the State is, try to remember that many people on the left aren't evil — they've just been sold a false premise (that government force = kindness).
Never debate compassion. Debate the means. Once you let them frame it as "you don't care about people," you've already lost. Force the violence question. Most people on the left have never been made to confront that their preferred policies require men with guns to enforce them against peaceful dissenters. Liberty requires responsibility. As Nick said, "Liberty without responsibility is nothing more than licentiousness." This is a deep point that separates classical liberalism /conservatism from both left-wing statism and modern libertarian hedonism. Plant seeds, don't try to win in one blow. The goal wasn't to destroy her in the moment. It was to make her uncomfortable enough with her own position that she had to think about it later.
And it worked.
