I'd love to have cons give me their definition of conservative

[Little-Acorn]

What is conservatism? It's the idea that government should do as little as possible, and should confine its influence to areas where private people and groups cannot do what is needed.

Not just areas where the govt thinks it can do "better" than private people or groups. But areas where private people and groups can't do it at all.

Such as foreign relations, national defense, setting national standards, running courts, dispassionately prosecuting lawbreakers, etc.

In a word, protecting people's rights.

And conservatives know that not everything we want, even necessary things like food and health care, is a "right". Govt should keep its hands off most things. People should do nearly everything for themselves, helping each other where needed, failing and trying again (a good way to learn), etc.

Conservatives hold that govt's job is to keep other people from interfering as you try to live your own life, except where you invited them to participate. Either people outside the country (foreign attack or invasion), or people inside the country (criminals, fraud artists, and govt itself). Otherwise govt should keep its hands off and stay out of they way.

 

[Camp]

Left-wingers are some stupid mofo's.

At least, they are giving answers. So far not a single conservative, including you, has even attempted to answer the question. So. is that because conservatives don't know the answer or because they are embarrassed by the answer?

Answer what? It doesn't matter... you left-wingers run with your Huffiness Post narratives; it doesn't matter what anyone says.... your small minds are closed. Wy should I waste time? I'd rather just ridicule you morons.

That is a really lame excuse for not knowing or being too embarrassed to answer a simple question about what the meaning of your ideology is. The normal response should be to proudly explain it, not hide from it.

I don't hide from it pal.... all I am saying is that most liberals are very close minded people.. it doesn't matter what you say, they have their preconceived notions and they will never be swayed. Why waste time on them?

The same exact description can be applied to conservatives or any other persons with a preferred ideology. Stubbornness is a human trait that crosses all spectrums at various levels.
Makes no difference, because some have had the strength of character and knowledge to answer the question instead of trying to hide behind a lame excuse.

 

[auditor0007]

Gee, let's keep it simple for the leftwing simps...

Conservatives are baby-eating monsters that want people to starve in the streets, throw old people off cliffs, nuke the entire world, abolish the government, eliminate taxes, pollute the air, water and land, eliminate all medical research and think the world is 6,000 years old.

For some conservatives, that is actually damn close.

 

[g5000]

What is it to be conservative? What is it that cons conserve?

There is social conservatism, and there is fiscal conservatism. I am mostly a fiscal conservative. Socially, I am fairly libertarian.

Because I am socially libertarian, I believe gay marriages should be provided the exact same government gifts the rest of us get. But at the very bottom of that is my personal belief that government should stay the hell out of marriage as much as possible.

However, if the government decides to give married people cash and prizes, then everyone should have equal protection of the laws which bestow those gifts.


My libertarianism also carries over into my fiscal philosophy. Everyone here knows that I hate tax expenditures. Those are also government gifts which are used to transfer wealth from the pockets of the common man and redistribute them up the food chain. The rubes have been led to believe in the lie that a deduction means "I get to keep more of my money", and that lie absolutely depends on their ignorance and innumeracy to succeed. They are being robbed of $1.2 trillion a year, and paying higher tax rates as a result of tax expenditures. It is also the leading cause of why we are so in debt.

Where I break with capital L libertarians is on government entitlements like Social Security and Medicare. I don't want to do away with these programs, nor privatize them. The mass number of rubes on this forum are empirical evidence that most people would be swindled blind by hucksters and end up dead broke in their golden years, and then they would be demanding the government take care of them without ever having contributed a cent to the Treasury for that purpose.

Social Security is not broke. Social Security actually makes money by investing in AAA government securities. The reason the hope chest is empty is because Congress has stolen that money for other purposes, such as tax expenditures.

The solution to Social Security and Medicare is to raise the eligibility age to 70, and index it to 9 percent of the population going forward.

We are living decades longer than our ancestors who established SS, we should be working longer than they did. This is common sense and bedrock conservatism.


Next, defense. We are paying for the defense of our allies. This is how they are able to afford the social safety nets they and our liberals brag so much about. So let's take away OUR safety net that has been subsidizing them, and see how loudly they are bragging then.
We can significantly cut defense spending this way.

These three things alone, (banning tax expenditures, increasing retirement age, cutting defense spending) would put our government budget well over a trillion dollars a year in surplus.

That means we could significantly lower everyone's tax rates and pay down the debt. Once the debt is paid off, we could lower everyone's tax rates even more.

Even crazier than that, people who earn identical incomes would be paying identical taxes. This is not the case today. We have a grossly unlevel playing field.

And finally, I am pro-life and pro-gun.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

It's always a hoot when liberals try to define conservatism. The lies and utter fantasies are impressive in their sheer scope.

Liberals "seek to unite"? Lol. Good one. Liberals realize they cannot win if people get along. Its why they constantly pit black against white, rich against poor, men against women, etc.

They don't have to pit those, they already are, by nature. Getting beyond that is the hard thing, that you couldn't care less about.

Wong yet again. Nature doesn't hold a candle to a leftist that needs a vote.

I will let wong know, and playing games to get votes isn't new or partisan.

 

[Bruce_T_Laney]

What is it to be conservative? What is it that cons conserve?

Which one are you asking about?

Is it Fiscal or Social Conservatism you want to know about or do you want Libertarian Conservatism versus Neo-Conservatism?

Just like Liberalism there are different styles of Conservatism and I am more of a Fiscal Conservative but lean more to a Social Liberal...

 

[g5000]

Another thing which distinguishes a conservative from a batshit crazy lunatic who has hijacked conservatism: A conservative doesn't blame Mexicans, or blacks, or Muslims, or gays for their problems.

If you are a loser, it isn't the fault of the Mexicans. Those 9 million jobs that were lost have NOTHING to do with Mexicans.

And your three divorces which have destroyed the institution of marriage are not the gays' fault.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

That's their concern... I think if more people looked after their own interests in a responsible way, we'd all be better off. All this moral busibodiness gets old.

So, stop doing it. See: Abortion, Drugs, Prostitution, Sex, etc.

 

[80zephyr]

Left-wingers are some stupid mofo's.

At least, they are giving answers. So far not a single conservative, including you, has even attempted to answer the question. So. is that because conservatives don't know the answer or because they are embarrassed by the answer?

Answer what? It doesn't matter... you left-wingers run with your Huffiness Post narratives; it doesn't matter what anyone says.... your small minds are closed. Wy should I waste time? I'd rather just ridicule you morons.

That is a really lame excuse for not knowing or being too embarrassed to answer a simple question about what the meaning of your ideology is. The normal response should be to proudly explain it, not hide from it.

I don't hide from it pal.... all I am saying is that most liberals are very close minded people.. it doesn't matter what you say, they have their preconceived notions and they will never be swayed. Why waste time on them?

What have you been swayed on lately, Mr. Swayzee Conservative?

Give us a list.

That would be a better question to ask the left. Who has given in more in the past 50 years? Anyone with two eyes can see we are more liberal than ever.

What has the left EVER swayed on? What have they EVER compromised on?

I think that conservatives "went along to get along" with the left. I suppose the reason we are getting more "hard core" is because we see that all these "advances" the left wanted did nothing to improve our lot.

We have had our experiment. We can see that the programs pushed by the left like welfare, Johnson's "Great Society", the marginalization of the family unit, etc., have done nothing to improve our society. To the contrary they have diminished us.

And the topping on the cake is that these "advances", while making us worse off, has brought us to the brink of insolvency.

You know what the sad thing is? When our country finally goes broke, every one of us will be a conservative again. Whether we want to be or not.

Mark

 

[NYcarbineer]

[

Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principle, disavows Progress; having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future.
- Benjamin Disraeli

In other words, you couldn't form your own thoughts. You must be a liberal.

I certainly can define CON$ervatism, but you would probably reject it out of hand.

CON$ervatism is a HATE religion, nothing else.
Are you happy now?

"Conservatives thrive on a world filled with mysterious evil and unfathomable hatreds, where good is always on the defensive and time is a precious commodity in the cosmic race against corruption and decline."
- Corey Robin 'The Reactionary Mind'

The stupid runs deep in this one.

"All conservatives are such from personal defects. They have been effeminated by position or nature, born halt and blind, through luxury of their parents, and can only, like invalids, act on the defensive."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

So? Who cares what he thinks? He's been dead for 130+ years.

Who you gonna quote next, Yoda?

No, John Kenneth Galbraith:

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.
John Kenneth Galbraith

Read more at John Kenneth Galbraith Quotes at BrainyQuote.com

 

[PaintMyHouse]

What is it to be conservative? What is it that cons conserve?

Minimizing, to the greatest extent possible, govts' affecting our decisions as to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and looking out for our own best interests.

Mainstream conservatives don't want less government, they just want less of liberals' government.

That's true to an extent, esp in areas of social issues. But hangover's OP question (while being bait) I thought was broader than that. No politician is ever totally true to the ideals of a political philosophy.

Modern conservatives are so confused that they are flocking to the RINO Trump whose positions, such as they are, in such areas as protectionism used to be hated by mainstream conservatives.

Fear makes fools of them, but that is what drives their lives in the first place.

 

[80zephyr]

Another thing which distinguishes a conservative from a batshit crazy lunatic who has hijacked conservatism: A conservatism doesn't blame Mexicans, or blacks, or Muslims, or gays for their problems.

If you are a loser, it isn't the fault of the Mexicans. Those 9 million jobs that were lost have NOTHING to do with Mexicans.

And your three divorces which have destroyed the institution of marriage are not the gays' fault.

Logic and reality tell a different story.

Mark

 

[Little-Acorn]

What is it to be conservative? What is it that cons conserve?

There is social conservatism, and there is fiscal conservatism.

That's like saying the Titanic could float just fine after hitting the iceberg, because there were only holes on the right side of the hull, but the left side was still intact.

Conservatism is the belief (and practice) of government having nothing to do with most of people's lives, only protecting their rights but otherwise staying out of the way.

You can't be conservative in some things and big-govt in others. That simply means you are a big-govt liberal.

 

[g5000]

What is it to be conservative? What is it that cons conserve?

There is social conservatism, and there is fiscal conservatism.

That's like saying the Titanic could float just fine after hitting the iceberg, because there were only holes on the right side of the hull.

Conservatism is the belief (and practice) of government having nothing to do with most of people's lives, only protecting their rights but otherwise staying out of the way.

You can't be conservative in some things and big-govt in others. That simply means you are a big-govt liberal.

You didn't read the rest of my post, did you.

 

[NYcarbineer]

At least, they are giving answers. So far not a single conservative, including you, has even attempted to answer the question. So. is that because conservatives don't know the answer or because they are embarrassed by the answer?

Answer what? It doesn't matter... you left-wingers run with your Huffiness Post narratives; it doesn't matter what anyone says.... your small minds are closed. Wy should I waste time? I'd rather just ridicule you morons.

That is a really lame excuse for not knowing or being too embarrassed to answer a simple question about what the meaning of your ideology is. The normal response should be to proudly explain it, not hide from it.

I don't hide from it pal.... all I am saying is that most liberals are very close minded people.. it doesn't matter what you say, they have their preconceived notions and they will never be swayed. Why waste time on them?

What have you been swayed on lately, Mr. Swayzee Conservative?

Give us a list.

That would be a better question to ask the left. Who has given in more in the past 50 years? Anyone with two eyes can see we are more liberal than ever.

What has the left EVER swayed on? What have they EVER compromised on?

I think that conservatives "went along to get along" with the left. I suppose the reason we are getting more "hard core" is because we see that all these "advances" the left wanted did nothing to improve our lot.

We have had our experiment. We can see that the programs pushed by the left like welfare, Johnson's "Great Society", the marginalization of the family unit, etc., have done nothing to improve our society. To the contrary they have diminished us.

And the topping on the cake is that these "advances", while making us worse off, has brought us to the brink of insolvency.

You know what the nice thing is? When our country finally goes broke, every one of us will be a conservative again. Whether we want to be or not.

Mark

Conservatives 'go along' because they lose the battles and don't have much choice.

After awhile, what was once a far left liberal position becomes so mainstream and broadly accepted that even conservatives forget how much their political forerunners fought against it.

 

[Little-Acorn]

Mainstream conservatives don't want less government, they just want less of liberals' government.

I see the usual suspects are making the usual error of mistaking Republicans for conservatives.

 

[g5000]

Another thing which distinguishes a conservative from a batshit crazy lunatic who has hijacked conservatism: A conservatism doesn't blame Mexicans, or blacks, or Muslims, or gays for their problems.

If you are a loser, it isn't the fault of the Mexicans. Those 9 million jobs that were lost have NOTHING to do with Mexicans.

And your three divorces which have destroyed the institution of marriage are not the gays' fault.

Logic and reality tell a different story.

Mark

We had full employment in 2006, with just as many illegals here as now, if not more.

Then there was a big crash in 2008. 9 million jobs were lost. Maybe you heard about it. It was in all the papers.

NOTHING to do with Mexicans.

 

[80zephyr]

It's always a hoot when liberals try to define conservatism. The lies and utter fantasies are impressive in their sheer scope.

Liberals "seek to unite"? Lol. Good one. Liberals realize they cannot win if people get along. Its why they constantly pit black against white, rich against poor, men against women, etc.

They don't have to pit those, they already are, by nature. Getting beyond that is the hard thing, that you couldn't care less about.

Wong yet again. Nature doesn't hold a candle to a leftist that needs a vote.

I will let wong know, and playing games to get votes isn't new or partisan.

Thanks for agreeing with me. The liberals do not seek to unite.

Mark

 

[NYcarbineer]

What is it to be conservative? What is it that cons conserve?

There is social conservatism, and there is fiscal conservatism.

That's like saying the Titanic could float just fine after hitting the iceberg, because there were only holes on the right side of the hull, but the left side was still intact.

Conservatism is the belief (and practice) of government having nothing to do with most of people's lives, only protecting their rights but otherwise staying out of the way.

You can't be conservative in some things and big-govt in others. That simply means you are a big-govt liberal.

So you can't be conservative if you believe we can't spend enough on the big government of the military?

 

[PaintMyHouse]

Liberals "seek to unite"? Lol. Good one. Liberals realize they cannot win if people get along. Its why they constantly pit black against white, rich against poor, men against women, etc.

They don't have to pit those, they already are, by nature. Getting beyond that is the hard thing, that you couldn't care less about.

Wong yet again. Nature doesn't hold a candle to a leftist that needs a vote.

I will let wong know, and playing games to get votes isn't new or partisan.

Thanks for agreeing with me. The liberals do not seek to unite.

Mark

Not what I said now is it, Marky...