The conservatives of this board, questions for you.

Personal liberty isn't a conservative idea, conservatism just adjusts to what is popular and what progressives/liberals achieve. Conservatism produces no art, no knowledge, no change, no progress it just claims ownership.

How can you be conservative and enjoy modern freedoms, technology, and rights?

Mort Sahl: "Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen."

 

this guy is smart...

 

S.C., your definition doesn't quite matter in reality.

In reality, unfortunately, "conservatism" is a different animal than what you believe. You see it really doesn't matter what your definition or my definition is, but what is! And what IS, it seems, is Bush, Falwell, Robertson, Cheney, Patriot Act, Spying and Big Government (yet no help to social programs)--the Conservatives of 2006 changing the reality of "conservatism".

But, are they really?

con·ser·va·tive ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kn-sûrv-tv) adj.
Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.

con·ser·va·tism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kn-sûrv-tzm) n.
1) The inclination, especially in politics, to maintain the existing or traditional order.
2) A political philosophy or attitude emphasizing respect for traditional institutions, distrust of government activism, and opposition to sudden change in the established order.

Your definition seems to half fit the #2 definition, yet the Conservatives of today seem to ignore the "distrust government" tenet of the second definition. Yet, that would be better described as libertarianism and, in extreme cases, anarchy.

Welcome to 2006.

 

i'm somewhat conservative in my actions. i'm not particularly creative or anything like that, since that seems to be the spin that the label "conservative" is taking. lol. but i'm not now, nor have i ever been, much of a whiny assed crybaby, and i don't want to stick my nose in other people's private, harmless behaviors. i guess i'm conservative in that the less my government gets done in terms of passing new laws and taxes, the happier i am. seems like everyone in congress wants to pass a new law just to prove that they were there. it's nonsensical to me. in that sense i guess i think they're all too liberal for my taste. i'm not totally sure where that places me.

 

...

 

Marijuana was made "illegal" by Harry J. Anslinger's propaganda.

Another conservative nut who believed drug addicts should be executed. Real sharp there, Harry! Real sharp!

 

Cute eh.. I was just awaiting a definition of 'conservatism'... or just the agenda of this thread i suppose.

It seems i am not very 'conservative' at all...

I guess the definition does not trascend the atlantic ocean...

 

do you vote tory? (or ukip or veritas, you get the idea)

 

no way ...

Though i could have voted for Maggie Thatcher in her early days [before she went mad].... I was watching and reading some stuff on ''stepping stones'' and how she privatised all the services [water / British Telecom etc etc ] and loosened the unions grip [ coal miners strike] That was a GOOD idea..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4766446.stm

Maybe no better in some peoples eyes .. but i vote Labour


The easiest line for any politician seeking office in the West today is to attack American policy. A couple of weeks ago as I was addressing young Slovak students, one got up, denouncing US/UK policy in Iraq, fully bought in to the demonisation of the US, utterly oblivious to the fact that without the US and the liberation of his country, he would have been unable to ask such a question, let alone get an answer to it.
Speech >>

 

Its a bit odd that people are saying "you're not allowed to be that kind of conservative! Conservatives are like THIS! They only think like THIS!"


Call in "classical liberals" if you want, but there's no more contradiction in saying you are a conservative that supports individual freedom than there is in saying you are a liberal who is opposed to economic freedom.

 

I think i think i think i think i agree with that.

 

Not opposed but limiting.

There is no contradiction because being a liberal is to seek positive change.

For valid reasons, just like classical liberals were opposed to monarchism and feudalism.

Economic freedom is unnatural and it requires checks and balances.



Eventually, modern liberals will win not through force but through logic and knowledge and conservatism will adjust.

 

There you have it. You may think that you are against economic freedom for the right reasons, but it doesn't change the fact that you are against it. Economic freedom is a fundamental human freedom.

 

No, no, no, no, and no.


How pathetic liberals have become. You've become a bunch of hateful fascists. Since we do not agree with your views, you use every form of intimidation and slander to get to us.

You are worse than children. Your twisted socialist views of this world are not those of the majority.

 

Keeping sucking Bush's ass, justwow.

It's your right!

 

You have quite successfully falsified every true liberal idea.

You're an American right?

 

That insane, paranoid rambling is the greatest reason to abandon conservatism.

 

No, not really, because the dictionary definition of liberal/conservative is often not what the public places with each idea and how we describe politics.

 

If so, then what really is the fucking use?

Its like saying a pig is a duck when it actually is a pig.

They are quite simple terms and if American politics didn't fuck them up so much, everyone would be having far saner conversations at hipforums!