Rubin Report - Dave Rubin - Dave Rubin on Republicans, Conservatives, and Finding Common Ground | DIRECT MESSAGE | Rubin Report
Aired: 2016-01-13
Duration: 03:14


=== Diving Into The Right (03:11) ===

[00:00:02]  We've spent a lot of time talking about the left around here, but this week we're going to be diving into the right.
[00:00:07]  My guest is conservative radio talk show host, lawyer, and writer Larry Elder.
[00:00:13]  Larry has written several books on conservative principles with a focus on government and racial issues.
[00:00:19]  Much of his work is very similar, actually, to the ideas we talk about here on The Rubin Report, including religion, the role of government, and personal responsibility.
[00:00:28]  According to his biography, Larry uses facts and common sense to arrive at his conclusions.
[00:00:33]  That sounds familiar, right?
[00:00:34]  Now, if I use those same precepts as a liberal, can we both be right at the same time?
[00:00:40]  Can we both be wrong?
[00:00:41]  Is the answer somewhere in the middle?
[00:00:43]  Well, that's exactly what we're going to try to find out.
[00:00:45]  As I discussed with Don Lemon last week, the media talks so much about the left-right divide in this country that it's easy to forget that there are decent people on both sides of the debate.
[00:00:55]  This is one of the reasons I've taken the left to task so much on this show.
[00:00:58]  The further off the deep end they go, the less we'll be able to find compromise with people we disagree with.
[00:01:05]  Just because I may have different views on abortion than Republicans doesn't mean that they hate all women.
[00:01:10]  Just because I may have different views than Republicans on guns doesn't mean that they're a bunch of rednecks.
[00:01:16]  And just because Republicans aren't for legalizing marijuana doesn't mean they aren't fun to hang out with.
[00:01:22]  Alright, well that one might be true, but I think you see my point.
[00:01:24]  Maybe the best way to start a conversation about political ideology is to actually define the terms.
[00:01:29]  This is something I've done with a few guests so far because I often think we're all talking about different things while using the same words.
[00:01:37]  Fear not, I have Google, and according to the Oxford Dictionary, here's the definition of conservatism.
[00:01:42]  "Conservatism is the holding of conservative principles, the tendency to resist great or sudden change, especially
[00:01:50]  in politics, adherence to traditional values and ideas, sometimes
[00:01:55]  opposed to liberalism."
[00:01:57]  Alright, so I think we have a nice jumping off point there.
[00:01:59]  Basically, conservatives aren't big on change, and when they are, they want to go about it slowly.
[00:02:05]  I think this concept has been conflated with the concept of right-wing politics, so I even googled that.
[00:02:11]  According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics, in liberal democracies, the political right opposes socialism and social democracy.
[00:02:20]  Right-wing parties include conservatives, Christian Democrats, classic liberals, nationalists, and the far right, racists and fascists.
[00:02:29]  You can see how these two concepts have morphed into the Republican Party in America.
[00:02:34]  We have an ideology that doesn't want to change the system too quickly, coupled with a political affiliation that is focused on economics and some level of moral authority.
[00:02:44]  Interestingly, classical liberals are also included in that group, and the more and more I've been talking about this stuff, the more I've been considering myself in that category.
[00:02:53]  I'm going to touch on that more in the next couple weeks.
[00:02:56]  Now that we've laid out some basic terms, I think we have a solid jumping off point to discuss all the issues of the day.
[00:03:01]  From abortion to economics to foreign policy to guns, can we find out where we agree instead of just yelling over each other?
[00:03:09]  I think we can, but the only way is to be brave enough to talk to those we don't actually agree with.