BroadSnark

An incident happened at my friend’s job the other day that perfectly demonstrates why liberals and conservatives are ultimately doomed to fail in their efforts to resolve conflicts.

One of the employees is a very young woman.  She’s not particularly mature.  It’s her first job.  She was getting upset because some of the other employees were showing up late in the mornings, leaving her the only one there.

To give you a bit of background.  This business was run by a woman who had only one rule, that there were no rules.  Employees had been led to believe that they had a very chill policy about being a few minutes late in the morning.  Nobody had ever been spoken to about tardiness.

This young woman, rather than speaking to her coworkers, went to the new management.  Management instituted a litany of draconian new policies for people who are late.  These policies don’t effect everyone equally, as some people have children or live farther away.  And one employee has an illness that makes things particularly hard.

I have no doubt that the manager primarily responsible for the new policies had good intentions.  In her mind, no doubt, she is looking after the complaining employee – a very sweet girl who I’m sure made a compelling case for paternalism.

The problem is that every other employee was feeling beat down.  Moral sunk.  A small wall was put up between the other employees and the complainer.  A wall was put up between the employees and the management.  They’ve gotten over that incident, but their relationships will always be a little bit different.

It didn’t have to be that way.  The people at this place are all kind and conscientious.  Had the unhappy employee went directly to them, I have no doubt they would have changed their behavior.  They could have worked something out.  But that opportunity was lost.

If you believe, as I do, that the management had good intentions and were just trying to look out for the person they thought taken advantage of, then this is a great example of how liberals go wrong.  Liberals have good intentions, but they are constantly erecting walls with their paternalism.

If you are more skeptical and think that the new management was just exercising their authority, imposing discipline to get people in line, then this is a great example of how conservatives go wrong.  Conservatives think people are only motivated by consequences.  But all they create is fear, distrust, and resentment.

Liberals and Conservatives have been unable to resolve any of our fundamental problems, because nobody can solve somebody else’s problems.   The longer we rely on mommy or daddy to deal with things for us, the fewer problem solving skills we develop.

It doesn’t matter if you are approaching an issue with the intention to help people or to scare the piss out of them.  Putting a third party representative or authority in the middle of conflict degrades relationships and ensures future conflict.