This morning, I went for a run around the neighborhood. I was on a really nice trail tucked against the side of a really nice neighborhood.

Toward the end of the trail, I had to cross a very busy four-lane road to get to my house.

When I got to the light and walk path, I had a few options. I could press the “walk” button and wait for all the lights to change, stop all the cars, and then go, or I could just go on my own.

It was 5:30am, and there weren’t many cars on the road. It just so happened that when I got to the light, the road was pretty clear. About 200 yards down the road, a dump truck was approaching.

Rather than make everyone stop just for me and inconvenience everyone, I decided to just go when the road was open.

I made it across with ease and without stopping traffic or making anyone change their behavior for me.

As I started running down the sidewalk on the other side, the truck that had been approaching got up behind me and honked at me. It was one of the loudest horns I’d heard in a long time, and all I could think of was what a great illustration of conservatism versus liberalism.

Me, the conservative, took care of myself without getting in anyone else’s way. My gain required no one else’s expense.

But the driver, the liberal, decided he had to shout me down by getting behind me and loudly honking his horn at me. He had to stop what he was doing to assert his desire to control my behavior, with no regard for the hundreds of people sleeping in the homes nearby.

It was a nice illustration of the two ideologies to start a Friday morning.