They Call It ‘Compassionate Conservatism’ — I Call It Oppressive

Originally published on Lefty Cartoons and cross-posted here with their permission.

“Compassionate conservatism” is the idea that one can simultaneously push marginalization, but doing it in a way that shows care.

But usually, this “care” is focused all wrong — like, say, toward fetuses, but not toward accessible childcare. And there’s nothing compassionate about that. It’s harmful, it’s hurtful, and it’s oppressive.

To learn more about this topic, check out:

• 7 Common Myths About People on Welfare
• How The Working Poor and Middle Class Are Trapped in a Systemic Cycle of Economic Decline
• 4 Ways We Ignore Poverty and Blame Poor People and What You Can Do To Help
• Roe v. Wade at 40 Years: Let’s Make Access to Abortion Meaningful for All Women
• Do Women’s Reasons for Having Abortions Matter? No…and Yes, and Here’s Why

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Barry Deutsch is the Portland-based author and cartoonist of Ampersand, a political comic with a generally progressive sensibility. A new Ampersand comic appears in every issue of Dollars and Sense Magazine. Barry attended Oberlin College in Ohio in the late 1980s, the School of Visual Arts in New York City in the 1990s (where he took classes from comics legend Will Eisner), and graduated from Portland State University several years ago. While at PSU, his political cartoons won the Charles M. Schulz Award. His current comics project is my comic book Hereville, a fantasy adventure comic about an 11-year-old Jewish girl. Check out his blogand follow him on Twitter @barrydeutsch.