With all this wimpering about conservatism=macho, why would someone want to be a (1 Viewer)

[TPS]

conservative? I don't get it. What's so great about conservatism? Even in its roots, very few of you are so on top of the world that it would benefit you to hold down the merchant and middle classes. So what gives?

Are you close minded? Do you want to hold women back because this is a man's world? Do you disagree with minorities making headway (this is The Man's [tm] world.) Do you feel like you have to be first in everything? Do you disagree with everyone who believes in things you don't? Do you feel like it's got to be your way or the highway?

These things don't make much sense to me. Admittedly, I'm pretty liberal (especially socially) simply because I couldn't give a **** less what anyone else does. To me, the value of America is in the freedoms to find one's own life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. I mean ****, that's a major guarantee and makes us different from everyone else.

Wanna go to church? Fine. Wanna not go to church? Fine too. Don't like trash on tv? Okay. Like trash on tv? Cool. Wanna own guns? Great. Don't want to own guns? I don't care.

This mystifies me. It is my opinion that outside of the thinking conservatives (who pretty much align as libertarians), it seems like a macho or fear of God/religion motiviation for most. And while I understand that Reagan, while his staff criminally abused its priviledges, did rebuild some of our national defenses, so what? Any threat to the United States was always likely to be from within. Maybe someone can help me understand conservatism (especially social conservatism). Because it really seems to be steeped in jealousy and hatred for the different.



TPS

 

[johnnyd]

Commie.

ThatPinkoSteve

 

[Wolbrat]

Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. (liberals)

Teach a man to fish and he eats for a life time. (conservative)

I used to be a liberal- until I worked in homeless shelters and welfare-to-work day care centers and saw first-hand what these policies have done to real people and their motivation to care for themselves.

And I definitely don't believe that it's a Man's World™.

 

[MPar98]

Wolbrat...since man has walked there have been those who do for themselves and those who do not...do you think the Republicans can change that?

 

[LSSpam]

I think a lot of people are more libertarian and use "Republican" (who have sought to shrink the imprint of the Federal Government) to identify themselves. They don't really identify at all with Democrats (who have sought to expand it).

The problem is, particularly during the recent Bush adminstration, they go to criticize certain things Republicans do which seem, well, anti-Republican (increase in the size and scope of the Federal government, a number of tariff and industry bail-outs, seeming indifference to the "sanctity" of Civil Liberties, intervention in things such as who you can marry, stem cell research, etc). And in todays polarized political world, such criticism gets you called a Democrat.

It's not that I think being Republican is so mind-numbingly superior to being Democrat, it's just I do consider myself a Republican, and somehow that gets me called out as being a Democrat because I don't support someone who's betrayed most of the Republican philosophy, Bush.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Personally, I think it's latent homosexuality that drives someone to want to be Conservative. With the Ted Haggards and the Mark Foleys, and now the Ken Mehlmans, of the world, it's obvious that a lot of Republicans are fighting something in their own nature that they are scared of... Notice I said "a lot", not "all"- there are exceptions to every rule. I'll quote the neocons' favorite whipping boy, Bill Maher, from Larry King Live the other night:

"It's so ironic. Republicans, the anti-abortion party, always trying to kill something inside of themselves. And Frank Rich wrote about this a couple of weeks ago. He said, yes, we've heard about Mark Foley, and then every week, it seemed another Congressman was outed. But he said, that's just the beginning of it. A lot of the chiefs of staff, the people who really run the underpinnings of the Republican Party are gay."

...I think there is a lot of truth in that. Why would anyone who is secure with themselves have a problem with what other people do in their private lives??

 

[Wolbrat]

I do not expect anything from politicians except greed and power mongering. If the politicians were interested in running the country and changing things for the better, it would have happened a LONG time ago.

Neither political party does anything but make sure their team wins. It hasn't been about effective government and "changing" things for a long time.

I am just explaining why I align myself more with "conservatives" than with "liberals" in a social policy sense.

I agree with the basic philosophy of "liberalism" that people should help each other, resources can be shared to help the less fortunate, no one in this country should be without basic needs while others have plenty, etc. But I disagree with "liberals" in how those beliefs should be put into practice.

It took 10 years of real world experience to get to this point. The handouts do not work. And I will never change my mind about that. There are other areas of "liberalism" that I still agree with, and there are some parts of "conservativism" that I find mind-boggling. But since I am forced in this country to pick a "team" I have to go with Conservatives and Republicans.

However, I do like that Obama guy...a lot.

 

[Wolbrat]

Personally, I think it's latent homosexuality that drives someone to want to be Conservative. With the Ted Haggards and the Mark Foleys, and now the Ken Mehlmans, of the world, it's obvious that a lot of Republicans are fighting something in their own nature that they are scared of... Notice I said "a lot", not "all"- there are exceptions to every rule. I'll quote the neocons' favorite whipping boy, Bill Maher, from Larry King Live the other night:

"It's so ironic. Republicans, the anti-abortion party, always trying to kill something inside of themselves. And Frank Rich wrote about this a couple of weeks ago. He said, yes, we've heard about Mark Foley, and then every week, it seemed another Congressman was outed. But he said, that's just the beginning of it. A lot of the chiefs of staff, the people who really run the underpinnings of the Republican Party are gay."

...I think there is a lot of truth in that. Why would anyone who is secure with themselves have a problem with what other people do in their private lives??

I think you might be onto something there...

 

[Squeezebox]

Personally, I think it's latent homosexuality that drives someone to want to be Conservative. With the Ted Haggards and the Mark Foleys, and now the Ken Mehlmans, of the world, it's obvious that a lot of Republicans are fighting something in their own nature that they are scared of... Notice I said "a lot", not "all"- there are exceptions to every rule. I'll quote the neocons' favorite whipping boy, Bill Maher, from Larry King Live the other night:

"It's so ironic. Republicans, the anti-abortion party, always trying to kill something inside of themselves. And Frank Rich wrote about this a couple of weeks ago. He said, yes, we've heard about Mark Foley, and then every week, it seemed another Congressman was outed. But he said, that's just the beginning of it. A lot of the chiefs of staff, the people who really run the underpinnings of the Republican Party are gay."

...I think there is a lot of truth in that. Why would anyone who is secure with themselves have a problem with what other people do in their private lives??

I also think that Republicans are gay.

 

[tengohead]

Where does human life begin? At conception? At birth? Somewhere in between? Is the mother's life more important than the embryo? At which point do they become equally important?

How do we decide the age of consent for sexual intercourse? Is NAMBLA okay? Is society overreacting to adult women having intercourse with teenage boys?

How far do we go in separating church and state? Should religious groups be allowed to meet in schools? Should students be allowed to wear religious symbols to school?

Is capital punishment moral? Is it a utilitarian way to deter crime or does it make us no better than murderers?

These are a small handful of questions that come up in politics that cannot be easily answered. Conservatism provides a platform for people who feel the same way on a majority of these issues. Does that make them racist? Sexist? Close-minded? Latent homosexuals? Hmmm.

 

[Wolbrat]

I also think that Republicans are gay.

I don't feel like a lesbian, but as a registered Republican, I am probably just in denial.

My husband will be so pleased.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Wolbrat...since man has walked there have been those who do for themselves and those who do not...do you think the Republicans can change that?

...True Story.

 

[RebSaint]

I think a lot of people are more libertarian and use "Republican" (who have sought to shrink the imprint of the Federal Government) to identify themselves. They don't really identify at all with Democrats (who have sought to expand it).

The problem is, particularly during the recent Bush adminstration, they go to criticize certain things Republicans do which seem, well, anti-Republican (increase in the size and scope of the Federal government, a number of tariff and industry bail-outs, seeming indifference to the "sanctity" of Civil Liberties, intervention in things such as who you can marry, stem cell research, etc). And in todays polarized political world, such criticism gets you called a Democrat.

I think this assessment is fair and spot on.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

I don't feel like a lesbian, but as a registered Republican, I am probably just in denial.

My husband will be so pleased.

...Good thing I mentioned that there are exceptions to every rule, right?

 

[THAJCODE]

Rush Limbaugh would rip this thread a new one.