I like people in the abstract

This blog entry by Paul Krugman is, as usual, spot on. But the key for me was seeing him put voice to a conservative "value" that I've only come recently to appreciate.

If you’re an intellectual of a certain age, you remember that in the 80s and maybe a bit of a way into the 90s it was common on the right to see American society as being in a process of catastrophic moral decline, descending into social anarchy. Crime would continue to rise, chaos would continue to spread, until and unless we returned to the Victorian virtues — and more specifically, to Dickensian social policies, in which only the deserving poor — as so designated by faith-based charities — received help. That, by the way, was the meaning of “compassionate conservatism”, which was about dismantling the welfare state in favor of private charity.

Conservatives want to personally hand out their charity to those they think deserve it, rather than let all people be taken care of. It reminds me of the saying I read a few months back that really struck me, found in of all places a blog about the TV show "Parks and Recreation" (it was actually quoting from yet another blog about "Parks and Rec," but both unsurprisingly were on progressive websites). 

Liberals worry about the people they don't know; conservatives worry about the people they do know. Alternatively: Democrats like helping people in the abstract but aren't neighborly, while Republicans love their neighbors but don't give a damn about strangers.

This pretty much sums it up. I just think that humans should be afforded with a certain level of lifestyle (health care, religious freedom, right to marry their dog, you know, liberal stuff). I shouldn't have to see to it that it happens to everyone, and they shouldn't have to come asking me specifically for it. That's the role of government.