POV: Your old college buddy says he's "fiscally conservative, but socially liberal"

Mar 4, 2022

Updated: Apr 24, 2022

content warning: racism, classism, white privilege, male privilege

You're at your 5-year reunion, and you run into an old classmate and friend, Jerry. There was a big election that had just occurred, and so politics casually came up in many of your "catching up" conversations. When pressed, Jerry explained, "Well, I'm fiscally conservative, but socially liberal."

Here's how the conversation could go...

Jerry: Well, I'm fiscally conservative, but socially liberal.

You: I respect that you view your social values as more liberal, but fiscal and social policy are intertwined. You can't be on opposite ends of the political spectrum in those two categories; they're mutually exclusive.

Jerry: Well, what do you mean? Like, I think that we should have less taxes, but I also think gay people should be able to get married. So how else would you describe it?

You: Those are two good examples, but that logic can't be applied everywhere. If you say that within economic policy you agree with conservatives that business owners have the right to refuse service, then you're also saying it's okay for owners to kick out trans people because they're not passing well enough. If you believe that the government shouldn't intervene in economic policy to enforce a higher minimum wage, then that belief is disproportionately affecting people of color that are more likely to be paid poverty-level wages than white workers.

Jerry: Okay, I guess I see what you're saying.

If they say this, you can say...

I just think that politics doesn't have to involve stuff about social justice. That's a totally separate thing.

It definitely is not as separate as you think. Any law, reform, or policy you can think of is affecting real-world people, and affecting different groups of people in different ways. Because we have systems of oppression at play, it would be naïve to think that politics doesn't serve oppression, let alone that it can be entirely separated from oppression.

Well I know more about politics than I do about social issues. So I feel more confident in my political opinions and acting upon them.

If you're trying to say I'm against welfare programs, well I am. These people are cashing in free checks just to have beer and drug money.

Some facts to reference...

Women's economic positioning is shaped by public policies based on their race and ethnicity. (Daedalus)
Black Americans are more educated, paid higher, and experience better health compared to 1968 (notable for the passing of the Civil Rights Act outlawing housing discrimination), but they still make 82.5 cents on every dollar earned by white workers. (Economic Policy Institute)
"In studies done on the actual spending from welfare and assistance funding of a variety of programs, families' top expenditures were housing and food" from the above section. (Monthly Labor Review)
"The stereotype of "welfare queens" has created this idea that welfare recipients are somehow profiting off of welfare programs when they don't truly need it, and that's been proven false time and time again" from the above section. (PBS News Hour)

"At a minimum, lawmakers must defend workers' rights by repealing 'right-to-work' laws; dismantling all exclusions from federal labor protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Wagner Act; increasing the minimum wage; and abolishing the tipped minimum wage." (in "Systemic Inequality and Economic Opportunity" from CAP)

A few things to remember...

This false belief that you can be fiscally conservative but socially liberal is probably intertwined with white and/or male privilege. If they have privilege, it often hides the evidence of oppression. They aren't the one experiencing oppression, and their privilege protects them from seeing the oppression in action. It doesn't make it okay, but it can help you contextualize what the other person is saying.

It is a notable feminist belief the personal is political. You cannot separate personal experiences from social policy or economic policy. Nothing exists in a vacuum, and the choices we make, the things we say, the groups we affiliate ourselves with... all of it is political because it exists within a specific political context.