What Are Real Conservatives Like?
Here's Chris Bowers' thoughts:
http://www.mydd.com/story/2004/11/7/225210/807
While I agreed with him on some points, on others I felt he was too harsh. I'm mulling over my own list.
What do you think "real conservatives" are like?
http://www.mydd.com/story/2004/11/7/225210/807
While I agreed with him on some points, on others I felt he was too harsh. I'm mulling over my own list.
What do you think "real conservatives" are like?
posted by Ebony Elizabeth at 10:45 PM
3 Comments:
I like whoever posted the dictionary definition of "conservative." s:)
In all seriousness, a conservative should show restraint in spending. A conservative should have a consciousness of available resources, and make the most of them. (I'm thinking mostly in terms of the environment, but the concept could also be applied elsewhere.) A conservative is not going to be out to make grand sweeping changes: I would expect a conservative to have a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. And if something IS broken, I would expect them to endorse the least drastic measure as the prefered fix -- something that will impact the fewest people and bring things back to a status quo.
I don't expect conservatives to endorse same-sex marriage, for example, but I wouldn't exactly expect a conservative solution to be "Change the Constitution! Gay marriage will destroy straight families!", either. I'd expect something a little more cautious, wanting to be certain of having correct information before making a decision. I can understand a reluctance to change the legal definition of a family from a conservative; I cannot understand treating same-sex marriage like a plague that, once it's set free, will discourage those who would otherwise consider it from entering into an opposite-sex marriage. (Then again, I believe marriage should be freely entered into by both parties, not something you do just to appear "normal." I also believe there's no such thing as "normal." s;) )
Kristen
From WashingtonPost.com:
Liberal Christians Challenge 'Values Vote'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38001-2004Nov9.html
Kristen
Mr. Bower's comments begin with false characterizations of conservative thought; the rest flows from that. Yes, there are conserevatives who want to be busybodies, but most don't.
"Real conservatives do not value your personal liberties. They like disenfranchising voters, challenging voters, and making it more difficult to vote."
Voting is cool as long as people vote once, and are eligible.
"They like it when the government is in your bedroom. They want to be able to spy on your personal files. They do not respect your right to privacy."
Gay marriage amendments failed everywhere they were on the ballot. Most people are against gay marriage. OTOH, the President says two things about gays right now: 1) Gay people have rights, and 2) It's not the proper business of the Federal Government to legislate them. The states always have done that. The anti-gay marriage amendment was proposed because of the "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution, which made some people fear that gay marriages from one state would have to be honored in all the others. I'm glad it hasn't passed.
We don't care what's in your files as long as you're not getting orders from Al Quaeda or Hamas.
"They like to tell you who you can and cannot love"
Love, go for it. Marriage as an institution is regulated.
"...and what you can and cannot do to your own body."
I assume this refers to abortion. A woman can do anything she wants with her body. A baby's body is a separate body, a different body, its own body, with an existence and rights of its own.
So we begin from an unsound base, in my view.
Mr. Bowers views on the military are infantile, I believe. There are people who want to kill us all; our freedoms were bought and paid for by soldiers, sailors, airman and Marines, not academics, protestors, and least of all from Chris Bowers.
Liberalism (as it's practiced today) has been shown to be in decline. Did David Dinkins save New York City? He did not. Rudy Giuliani did, with conservative values. That's the example I saw firt hand. Are you aware that the crime rate in liberal basions like Canada is far higher than in the US?
What liberalism is today is more like nihilism:
"Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy."
http://www.iep.utm.edu/n/nihilism.htm
Can liberalism be reinvented? It can. People like Eb can be the ones to do it, by discarding the foolish and wrong-headed nihilism, respecting what people really think, finding the standards that make sense, and work towards things that make sense and making a case for them. The lashing out has to stop. Calling the yahoos in Jesusland names is a non-starter. All liberals are doing now is absolutely guaranteeing conservative victories for the foreseeable future.
Post a Comment
<< Home