Left vs Right: where we come from

His response to this is that:

This is psychologically true, but does not translate into workable policy: it would have us trying to help them all (or trying to help all the sympathetic ones, or the cute ones, or the ones who appeal to us individually). Connected to this, but much more compelling is the ethics of proximity: our obligation to help depends on how close the person is to us (both in relationship and geographically). The child who comes to the door pleading for help has a more pressing claim for help than a similarly distressed child on the other side of the world.

For the likes of Smith and most right wingers, I believe the 'ethics of proximity' are considered not for those who share our country, or state or even our neighborhood, and certainly don't extend to humanity beyond our shores. The 'ethics of proximity', any sort of compassion or empathy, is limited to those who share their living rooms. This is why, for right wingers, a political policy must always benefit that individual and those with the closest proximity to them only. Everyone else can go get stuffed.

The second example of this attitude in right wingers was much more blatant, coming from Mitt Romney's Republican nomination acceptance speech:

President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.

In other words, Romney knows perfectly well that his right wing supporters don't give a damn about the environment. Their only concern is their family. This line was designed to imply that Obama's promise to save the planet is an example of a left wing government turning their back on individuals, in order to save the entire society (or the total sum of all individuals). Regardless of the irrationality of this sentiment (how do you save/help/support/encourage individuals without doing the same for all individuals?) I believe this is the crux of our differences.

Of course we could argue all day about the reasons why a strong community will always benefit more individuals in the long term. We could try to explain why it's much better for all of us to work together to help improve our collective circumstances, rather than trying to appeal to each individual's selfishness. But this is not the sort of conversation that right wingers are interested in having. Is someone like Michael Smith or Mitt Romney ever likely to be persuaded by such an argument? I'm not holding my breath.