Required reading for liberals

Liberals are more optimistic about the capacity of individual reason and the government’s ability to execute transformational change. They have more faith in the power of social science, macroeconomic models and 10-point programs.

That's David Brooks in the New York Times offering a pretty darn good summary of the difference between liberals and conservatives in an age where making meaningful distinctions has become more difficult.

I disagree with his last point, that the success or failure of the Obama administration will solve the question of who has it right, liberals or conservatives. It will not be easy to make definitive judgments with respect to the success of the myriad initiatives. Besides, we'll not know how things would have turned out with an alternative approach.