Libs and conservs.

For many years I struggled for an explanation as to why the super wealthy are often found on the liberal side of the democratic debate. Based on what is considered liberal and conservative today its pretty easy to draw the economic line. The liberals should be the poorer groups that want some help from the rich which will result in a more equal nation or world. The conservatives would naturally be made up of those with excess wealth that would be stressing the need for independent achievement and opportunity unhindered by government regulations or taxation.
So why would the Kennedy's or the Sean Penn's of the world side with the liberals?
My cursory study of philosophy has made me realize that even tho many of the philosophers think they are discovering eternal truths they are naturally being guided by their circumstances or the zeitgeist of the day. For example Thomas Hobbs happened to be on the King's side when they lost to the Cromwell gang and the King was executed. From Hobb's perspective the masses were wrong and stupid and life in a world with them in charge would be nasty, brutish, and short. John Locke, about 40 years later was a tutor for the side that won the "glorious revolution" what he viewed was an example that the people were a rational bunch who could make proper decisions and govern themselves. So the eternal truth each came up with was based on their position as they watched the world.
So this thought came to me about liberals and conservatives. You tend to side with the group that reflects your own experience. Poor people who can't catch a break or are taught that their efforts against some form of "the man" are useless would tend to gravitate to a liberal attitude. Whereas people that feel they have worked hard and found success by their efforts will feel that everyone can do what they did and will natually fall into the conservative camp. The super rich who have gotten to their position because they were handed the money from their family will natually believe that the only way to make it in this unfair world is to have someone else give it to you. After all that's their experience and as they see the struggles of the poor it would only be natual that they would surmise that the suffering masses just need an injection of wealth from some rich uncle, after all that's how they made it.
Of course there are other factors involved in gravitating to your side of the political spectrum, mainly what a person is taught at home or by those he admires. Admittedly some of the Hollywood group have worked hard to get to the top of their game so they might lean conservative (Drew Carrey, Ted Nuggeut,) but the fact that many of them hang out and seek the adoration of their liberal peers they would tend to drift that direction.

Utah Weather

last Saturday I mowed the back lawn, on Monday I shoveled 4 inches of snow off the driveway.