Conservatism

[tshile]

1 hour ago, The Evil Genius said:

I'm 42. I've lived in Virginia, West Virginia, and California. I've never met a conservative like the one that the OP talks about. Where do these red headed step children of the GOP live?

I know plenty of people like this, in northern VA.

 

They just don't go around announcing themselves as conservatives because... well, look at this thread. That's how they get treated.

 

There's some on ES too, but when you say the wrong thing there's a group of posters that just call you a trump supporter and start ranting about how you hate poor/black/muslim/women/whatever

 

[TradeTheBeal!]

13 minutes ago, Kilmer17 said:

Well this thread went just about as expected.

 

We've made it through two pages without a single "libtard", so that's pretty good.

[nonniey]

12 hours ago, tshile said:

What happens with the other crime statistics?

This.

 

There are plenty of conservative values that appeal to me.

 

I can't find them represented at all by the gop anymore.

 

They say the words, but their actions don't align.

Actually the GOP does represent some of them but misses on many, even too many of them. However, the Dems represent nearly none of them and this is why Conservatives still generally vote for the GOP.

[AsburySkinsFan]

4 minutes ago, nonniey said:

Actually the GOP does represent some of them but misses on many, even too many of them. However, the Dems represent nearly none of them and this is why Conservatives still generally vote for the GOP.

Which is why I'm neither.

[tshile]

Can someone that's a conservative explain to me what conservative views on the economy are?

 

 

That's one of the things I've abandoned from the conservatives. When the financial crisis the "conservatives" were very loud, and very much against what our government did to try to deal with the economic collapse (which started with Bush, on his way out... they were very critical of him, and they were absurd once Obama took over and continued the same politics)

 

They were very loud. And they were very wrong. The gold nonsense the hyperinflation the runnaway fed, the pending collapse and the destruction of the country. They were wrong in every conceivable way. In fact, I can't think of one thing they came close to getting right... if there is one let me know.

 

Then you hear them talk about the debt and it sounds like a 5 year old trying to explain the decision tree for budgeting for a new house; they're woefully out of their element and discussing it in a way that just screams "I have no idea what i'm talking about"

 

So i dumped the conservative economic ideals. To me, they showed themselves to be dumb and uninformed.

 

I'm willing to accept that maybe it was the far right media masquerading as "conservative" if you can make an argument for that. I will point out - it should include why a similar ideology pushed similar measures in the EU (austerity), because you cannot just write that off as coincidence.

 

 

[nonniey]

Growth.

[tshile]

Just now, nonniey said:

Growth.

This feels incomplete.

 

It also don't explain the fixation on debt (which is easily delt with using growth )
 

[TradeTheBeal!]

1 minute ago, nonniey said:

Growth.

 

Growth like a puppy...or growth like a tumor?

 

@tshileasking dudes to walk on water in here.

[AsburySkinsFan]

5 minutes ago, nonniey said:

Growth.

Yeah, seems lacking in substance.

[TheGoodBits]

1 minute ago, AsburySkinsFan said:

Yeah, seems lacking in substance.

 

I dunno it seems like a really good policy when compared to the liberal goal of shrinking the economy and putting everyone on welfare. /sarcasm 

[The Evil Genius]

18 minutes ago, tshile said:

I know plenty of people like this, in northern VA.

 

They just don't go around announcing themselves as conservatives because... well, look at this thread. That's how they get treated.

 

There's some on ES too, but when you say the wrong thing there's a group of posters that just call you a trump supporter and start ranting about how you hate poor/black/muslim/women/whatever

 

 

I thought you called you guys called yourselves Libertarians or some other silly nothingburger name. 

 

That said, thanks. At least you added to the conversation, which is more than some others have (me included, with this post).

[Bang]

Growth embraces new technology and encourages innovation.

We're doing neither.. in fact, in terms of the single most explosive area of small business growth .. internet,, they are currently championing ways for huge corporations to take over and throttle any competition.

We remain in a 16th century paradigm for energy, and still have no energy policy that i know of to move into the future. Drill drill drill, find things in the ground that will burn. Ignore all consequences, and decry any warnings thereof as fake, even though the only people left on the entire planet who don't realize it yet are the people who vote for this one political party in this one country... which is largely funded by those who profit on these industries.

 

Education is underfunded, under attack, and our place in the world is showing the result.

This trend must be reversed, no matter how much people don't like the notions of 'educational elites" which usually translates to "some smartypants who thinks he knows more than me." 

 

Growth..  must clear paths for the common man. We are not doing that, preferring huge mega-corps that exist solely to profit their shareholders, even at the expense of damaging the country and pushing the people into poverty. There is no conscience, there is no vision for the future. Just grab as much as you can now, and let the rest drown later while you party.

 

~Bang

[Elessar78]

4 minutes ago, AsburySkinsFan said:

Yeah, seems lacking in substance.

Problem with substance and details is if you spell it out you may have to abide by it eventually. 

 

Their stances seem to be backed with platitutdes and not really hard data.

[The Evil Genius]

Btw, isn't Kansas the conservatives wet dream? Or maybe that's just the GOPs? They're doing great there, I hear.

[AsburySkinsFan]

Just now, skinsfan_1215 said:

 

I dunno it seems like a really good policy when compared to the liberal goal of shrinking the economy and putting everyone on welfare. /sarcasm 

LoL! Not to mention that the dollar is falling because of Trump, so we all get to watch our buying power get weaker and goods more expensive....#winning #MAGA

[tshile]

1 minute ago, The Evil Genius said:

 

I thought you called you guys called yourselves Libertarians or some other silly nothingburger name. 

 

That said, thanks. At least you added to the conversation, which is more than some others have (me included, with this post).

yeah... i think we all grew out of that phase.

 

the whole Rand/Ron Paul thing was hot there for a minute given the other options.

 

Now we're just the butt of the jokes @zoony makes and i think we finally realized it and stay away from that word

[No Excuses]

What was the last major piece of conservative legislation that left a positive impact on the lives of millions of Americans?

[Riggo-toni]

As far as defense spending goes, we waste far far too much on things that are largely irrelevant and/or impractical, and not enough on the most useful.

We force the military to buy tanks it doesn't want, because it's a jobs program masquerading as defense...so "conservatives" who decry jobs programs in urban areas as socialism can feel good about it. Same goes for the B2 bomber - a billion dollar plane that can be brought down by a $50k stinger missile or, more infamously, by a flock of birds (yeah, that happened). Even the justification for its outrageous price tag was faulty - it's invisible to our hi-tech radar, but could still be tracked by old Soviet equipment. We're still spending a fortune on Cold War programs.

On the other hand, we don't spend enough to deal with modern threats - cybersecurity and insurgencies. All that money we wasted on unwanted tanks, but we didn't spend enough on armour plating on personnel vehicles to spare troops' lives. Our foci should be on mobility, surveillance, troop protections, research, and cyberspace.  Instead, our congress is fighting to keep open useless bases and retain archaic programs.

[TradeTheBeal!]

7 minutes ago, No Excuses said:

What was the last major piece of conservative legislation that left a positive impact on the lives of millions of Americans?

 

Introduced by a centrist Dem, but this was a solid piece of bi-partisan lawmaking that was enacted under W.  Reading the wiki page seems like we live in a totally different country these days...sigh

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Security_Act_of_2007

[No Excuses]

1 minute ago, TryTheBeal! said:

 

Introduced by a centrist Dem, but this was a solid piece of bi-partisan lawmaking that was enacted under W.  Reading the wiki page seems like we live in a totally different country these days...sigh

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Security_Act_of_2007

 

In light of modern conservatism, it is hard to dub this "conservative". Especially considering it was drawn and written by liberals.

 

Its more evidence of bipartisan good than clear conservative legislation.

[TradeTheBeal!]

4 minutes ago, No Excuses said:

 

In light of modern conservatism, it is hard to dub this "conservative". Especially considering it was drawn and written by liberals.

 

Its more evidence of bipartisan good than clear conservative legislation.

 

I'm trying, bro.

 

Edit:  it was either that or MOAR GUNS IN SCHOOLS.

[Burgold]

The biggest flaw in the OP's argument is at the most basic level. 

 

Philosophies are living organisms. They adapt and change to fit the new realities. That's why the GOP is conservative. It's what conservatism has become. 

 

I remember when George W Bush was worshipped as absolute conservative perfection.... and then, how these folks suddenly declared him s fake conservative when it was clear his presidency was failing. 

 

I remember Reagan being a conservative God. Today, he'd be considered a liberal to the left of Clinton. 

 

You are what your record says you are. You are who you vote for. Today's conservatism is based on Trump and the Tea Party. It has no core beliefs other than democrats and liberals are evil. 

 

That is why the the conservative agenda is a scorched earth plan when it comes to anything Obama did. 

 

[twa]

I told ya W was mostly a social Con in the mold of a Yellow Dog Dem....which is considered a conservative in these times.

Reagan was a convert and while both embraced some conservative theology it was in the big govt model.

Pure conservatives are few, and I'm not among them......like most I take some from different philosophies and make sausage. 

 

[Bang]

W. did a lot of good for AIDS research. 

Reagan's breakup of the Phone monopoly led to the exact sort of competition it was supposed to, and we the consumers have benefited.

 

~Bang

[twa]

1 minute ago, Bang said:

W. did a lot of good for AIDS research. 

Reagan's breakup of the Phone monopoly led to the exact sort of competition it was supposed to, and we the consumers have benefited.

 

~Bang

 

W. did a lot of good.

I respect him and always will.