Conservatives prefer short-term solutions

Conservative politicians prefer short-term solutions over long-term solutions. They’re concerned only with what happens between now and the next election.

It’s why they’d rather increase funding to cops as a solution to crime rather than increasing funding to eliminate poverty. If someone has a crime committed against them—say a theft from their vehicle or home—phoning the cops and reporting the crime is an immediate action they can take to deal with that crime. And if the cops catch the perpetrator, then the person considers the issue taken care of.

Except the cops didn’t prevent the crime. The crime still occurred. Cops existing and having the most funding of any city-funded entity (at least in Lethbridge) didn’t stop that crime from happening. Cops respond to crime; they don’t prevent it.

And regardless of how efficient the cops were at solving the crime, it doesn’t change the actual causes of crime. If the perpetrator stole for money, for example, then funding cops doesn’t ultimately change the reasons why that person needed the money.

The problem is that any programmes to address poverty are long-term solutions, such as increasing high school graduation rates, making postsecondary funding free, implementing a universal basic income, eliminating homelessness, and so on. On top of these taking too long, conservative politicians also see them as taking away personal responsibility.

I had to work hard for my paycheque, so everyone else should, too. I had to work hard for my university degree, so everyone else should, too. I had to work hard to buy and own a house, so everyone else should, too. And so on.

And this preference for short-term solutions extends to all sorts of areas: it’s why they prefer detox and recovery over harm reduction. It’s why they prefer the death penalty to drug decriminalization. It’s why they prefer people “obeying the law” instead of addressing police brutality.

But if we want to actually improve our society, we’re going to need long-term solutions. Because if there’s one thing that’s clear by now, it’s that short-term solutions aren’t working.