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What has conservatism given America?

ZiprHead

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A Blog post. It's very old but just as true today as it was when it was written.

You know, I've studied history, I've read about America and you know something, if it weren't for liberals, we'd be living in a dark, evil country, far worse than anything Bush could conjure up. A world where children were told to piss on the side of the road because they weren't fit to pee in a white outhouse, where women had to get back alley abortions and where rape was a joke, unless the alleged criminal was black, whereupon he was hung from a tree and castrated.

What has conservatism given America? A stable social order? A peaceful homelife? Respect for law and order? No. Hell, no. It hasn't given us anything we didn't have and it wants to take away our freedoms.

The Founding Fathers, as flawed as they were, slaveowners and pornographers, smugglers and terrorists, understood one thing, a man's path to God needed no help from the state. Is the religion of these conservatives so fragile that they need the state to prop it up, to tell us how to pray and think? Is that what they stand for? Is that their America?

Conservatism plays on fear and thrives on lies and dishonesty. I grew up with honest, decent conservatives and those people have been replaced by the party of greed. It is one thing to want less government interference and smaller, fiscally responsible government. It is another thing entirely to be a corporate whore, selling out to the highest bidder because the CEO fattens your campaign chest. They are building an America which cannot be sustained. One based on the benefit of the few at the cost of the many. The indifferent boss who hires too few people and works them to death or until they break down sick. Cheap labor capitalism has replaced common sense. "Globalism" which is really guise for exploitation, replaced fair trade, which is nothing like fair for the trapped semi-slaves of the maquliadoras. In the Texas border towns, hundreds of these women have been used as sex slaves and then apparently killed,the FBI powerless to do anything as the criminals sit in Mexico untouched by law.

Much more in the link.
 
I would be interested in any rebuttal to this to provide how they think they aren’t this.
 
It has given America this ridiculous idea that it was built without the need for hard work and sacrifice. That it doesn't cost anything to build. That only some people should be held responsible for mistakes. That anyone that disagrees has an evil agenda. It even taught some Americans to embrace indifference (at best) to intolerance.

America has become a nation of cheap ass mothafuckas who complain about quality dropping and refusing to see it their cheapness causing it.

Alt-right conservatism has also created dick shrinkage to anything that is white male in media.
 
I would be interested in any rebuttal to this to provide how they think they aren’t this.
We'd need to start by agreeing upon what "conservatism" means in the real "Here and Now" world.
To me, it includes keeping RvW but not building The Wall.
YMMV
Tom
 
Conservatism has given America a counterweight to progressives' limitless appetite for social, cultural and economic engineering. It's a historical tragedy that liberalism wasn't able to provide that counterweight, but politics is a numbers game. You might as well ask what Anglicanism has given America, as though there had ever been enough Quakers to stop the Puritans from twisting all of America into the Salem Massachusetts style theocracy of their dreams. Freedom does not come from principles and lofty sentiments and holding truths to be self-evident. Freedom comes from balance of power.
 
I would be interested in any rebuttal to this to provide how they think they aren’t this.
As a newly minted adult, I worked in DC for a Middle East country that was trying very, very hard to modernize from approximately the 10th century to the 20th. There had been a peaceful regime change a decade or so earlier and they were trying to capitalize on what oil wealth and other national resources they had to educate their populace ( women and girls, too!) but at the same time to remain true to their national identity, and history. They were walking the knife’s edge: Russia badly wanted a foothold and was fomenting revolution on one border, so they were embracing the US and other western nations.

And then the Shah of Iran fell. It is not possible to overestimate the chill this had on the modernization efforts of the country I worked for and elsewhere in the region—changes that have quelled much of the progress. It’s been decades and I’m not in touch with any of my former co-workers but a quick look at their website ( dud not exist in my days there) shows no American faces and nothing but conservatives traditional dress on all the men. No women are seen. So, back to the Middle Ages. I understand: They are small, obscure. They wanted to avoid a bloody revolution.

Change is hard. We Westerners see that backlash of conservatism as change—needed, necessary, good change threatens the power structure upon which society relies. Threatened people fight back.

I see change as necessary, inevitable, and drought with risk. I think it’s best to go slow, usually, and in the long run. Conservatism can provide needed balance/brakes to ensure that change is thoughtful and is actually progress, rather than same old/same old.

I’m mean, I think it would be great if tomorrow, everyone woke up and agreed with me about almost everything. But I also know the limit of my knowledge and understanding and the limit of my vision.

In reality, I think slow and steady is best. Conservatism can help with that.
 
So I get what ya'll are saying about conservatism being a brake on progressiveness. That is what it STOPS giving. and I love that answer - It's like "what good would an action movie be without a bad guy"? Lex Luthor gave Nevada a coast line... if that helps understanding of the question (but alas he destroyed California in the process... so, net loss)

The question is what does / has conservatism ACTUALLY GIVEN.
I'll agree it has taken away degrees of progressiveness... just as much as "less-progressive anti-conservative liberals" have.
But I am also interested in hearing what conservativism uniquely has provided in gains.
 
Limited Government: Conservatives traditionally favor a limited role for the federal government. Why? Because local and state governments have a better track record... especially when it comes to targeting the 'right' people.

Fiscal Responsibility: Fiscal prudence is the name of the game, except when it comes to tax breaks for the 'in-crowd.' For them, the sky's the limit! But the 'others'? Well, they shouldn’t expect too much.

Traditional Values: Conserving traditional values is crucial, as long as they’re the white, Christian kind. Everyone else's traditions? Not worth the time.

National Defense: A strong national defense is essential – gotta make sure everyone knows their place, right?

Free Market Capitalism: Let the market be free! No government intervention needed, unless of course, 'certain' groups want a piece of the pie. Then, red tape all the way.

Individual Liberty: Individual rights are paramount, but only for certain individuals. Some rights are just more or less equal than others.

Rule of Law: A strict interpretation of the Constitution is crucial – as long as it aligns with the priorities of the in-group. Anything else? Clearly unconstitutional.

Property Rights: Everyone should have the right to their property. Unless you're from the 'other' group, then, well, accidents happen.

Pragmatism over Rapid Change: Gradual change is the mantra – unless there's a chance to rewind to the 'good old days.' Then, full speed ahead!

States' Rights: It's easier to influence local government to best handle the affairs of we the people white Christian nationalists.
 
Here's what it says at the base of the Statue of Liberty:
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Anybody who wants to build a Wall to keep out those people is not a conservative. They aren't even a reactionary.
They are progressives. They advocate progressing beyond the olden "Nation of Immigrants" days.

Sorry, but I personally am way too conservative to support Trumpists and their idiotic progressivism. In a batch of different ways, but that's one. A big one.
Tom
 
Tom. It's too early to claim they've switched teams when they're still wearing the white Christian nationalist jersey. The actual transfer needs to come first. ;)
 
Do we really need the silly debate about who or what deserves the conservative or liberal label? We all know who both sides are.
 
Tom. It's too early to claim they've switched teams when they're still wearing the white Christian nationalist jersey. The actual transfer needs to come first. ;)

I don't think they've switched teams.

The words have changed meaning.
They used to have objective meaning, somewhat. Now, in this hyperpartisan world the words have become useless. They are party code, or something.

I'm staunchly pro-life, pro-marriage, and pro-immigration. I'm also strongly in favor of fiscal sanity, a military capable of defending our borders, and voting equality/democratic elections of Potus.
Does that make me a conservative or a progressive?

Tom
 
Do we really need the silly debate about who or what deserves the conservative or liberal label? We all know who both sides are.
Do you?
Or are you just so convinced that you know the answers that you don't see the questions as important?
Tom
 
Do we really need the silly debate about who or what deserves the conservative or liberal label? We all know who both sides are.
Do you?
Or are you just so convinced that you know the answers that you don't see the questions as important?
Tom
We all know the answers. Playing semantic games is not an answer.
 
Without the conservatives, I would not have realized how my well-being and way of life are threatened by the transgendered. And (ooh! ooh!) my bathroom security. It's getting so I just hold it in at Mall of America.
 
Do we really need the silly debate about who or what deserves the conservative or liberal label? We all know who both sides are.
Do you?
Or are you just so convinced that you know the answers that you don't see the questions as important?
Tom
We all know the answers. Playing semantic games is not an answer.
Who is "we"?
I want the USA to remain This Nation of Immigrants.
Does that make me a conservative or a progressive, in your opinion?
Tom
 
Do we really need the silly debate about who or what deserves the conservative or liberal label? We all know who both sides are.
Do you?
Or are you just so convinced that you know the answers that you don't see the questions as important?
Tom
We all know the answers. Playing semantic games is not an answer.
Who is "we"?
I want the USA to remain This Nation of Immigrants.
Does that make me a conservative or a progressive, in your opinion?
Tom
An opinion on one small subject does not make you overall liberal or conservative.
 
Does Trump era Republicanism fit old definitions of Conservative any longer? The Lincoln Project? Who are the real Conservatives, in our present environment? Are they a nearly extinct species?
 
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