I hate conservatism

re: I hate conservatism

Social Murray — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:40:50 GMT

I am diehard republican...i hate monarchy...liberal here (Australia) is the conservative party...the left is the labour which i proudly vote for!!!! United socialists of the World forever.

re: I hate conservatism

atrickpay — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:28:25 GMT

Thanks for pointing out that paleo-conservatism is also a sham! I hate when people try and say that that is the "true conservatism." I say 'bull-***'. Pat Buchanan is a hack...

ps. John Stuart Mill summed it up well:

“Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative.”

re: I hate conservatism

Brainpolice — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:12:56 GMT

The rule of law is essentially a myth perpetuated in the attempt to justify the rule of men. Laws do not rule on their own. Constitutions are not self-enforcing. The problem with the overtly gradualist approach is that it turns into dedicated opposition to radicalism.

The problem for American conservatives is not that they lost power. It's that whenever they have been in power, they used it for their short-term benefit. It's that they have used coercive means out of fear of "the other guys" using it first (commies, social democrats, etc.).

Conservative governments grow because (1) the very nature of the system is designed to grow and force compromise (2) conservatives support political means when it suites their special interests (3) most conservatives are disingenuous about their will to reduce political power. Blaming it on voters strikes me as kind of backwards.

Conservatism is a blight because it is a statist ideology like any other. "Order" and particular personal values ultimately trump liberty. Anti-communism, cultural monocentrism and the police and military power are higher on the list of wants then reduction of political power.

re: I hate conservatism

Jared — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:41:03 GMT

Classical conservatism has little to do with the status quo directly. Classical conservatism holds that the State and society are organic, change in them should be gradual, and said change should be constitutional. The rule of law is a key conservative concept. The original conservative writer, Edmund Burke, was even sympathetic to the American Revolution!

The problem for American conservatives is that they lost in the 1860s and then again in the 1930s and again and again. Because conservatives lost, they find themselves in a wilderness. So what should the conservative support? The gold standard, constitutional and wise, or the fiat money, which is the status quo? Conservatism as based on the principles of prudence, gradualism, and the rule of law should only support the gold standard, one example of many issues.

Why do conservative governments grow, then? Because the vast majority of voters are not great political thinkers. They might have a few issues that they watch the candidates on TV and papers for. The hint of something bad on one candidate scares them away. They don't really want to give up welfare, or the Fed, or our global military presence. They never see their taxes taken from the purchasing power of their dollars, so why should they care? In fact, many of the conservative voters don't really know what limited government entails. All they know is they were taught to it, that darn government spends a lot of money, and that they should vote on candidates that say it like a magic phrase.

Trust me, conservatism is not some great blight. Consider that a conservative could go on a similar rant against a similarly straw man libertarianism and how many of its adherents are hopelessly uneducated.