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NeedToUseYou -> RE: Liberalism and Conservatism..... (9/28/2008 8:25:24 PM)
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As far as my thoughts on conservatism and liberalism are concerned...
I think conservatism doesn't exist in modern day politics, only the "title" of conservatism remains with little baring on the core meaning. .
Conservatives for example, would in theory be for conserving that which is, in a government context that would mean resisting changing interpretations of the role of government. It would mean not redefining terminology when it is convenient(torture). It would mean opposing things that are not specifically delegated authority(bailout). Bush for example is a conservative only in a religious sense, which is a very narrow, segment of conservatism.
So, we essentially, have a situation where no one is resisting changes to core principles, which is very dangerous and results, in redefining torture for example, leads to redefining executive power. No real conservative would ever be for such things, the term has lost its meaning because people that are not conservative in the least use the title, and muddy the definition to meaninglessness.
So, there is no one watching the fort.
Meanwhile, liberalism is doing exactly what liberalism does. It likes to experiment, change, resist, etc..... However, without a proper resistance to such forces, you get badly thought out changes passing, you get constant reinterpretations of what should be basic principles, you get stretching of limits, without much resistance.
This country is rife with "change" to much "change" in the wrong direction. Patriot Act, global war on terror, pre-emptive strikes, redefining torture, expansion of eminent domain, government taking on private risk, seat belt laws, quick 180 degree turns in regards to regulation, nafta, globalism, etc.. I can list more.
Anyway, I'd say 90% of those claiming to be conservative, or more, aren't into conserving anything, it is just a team name, with no coherent philosophy about it. They are into "change" as much as anyone else. As I said the problems to a large extent are a result of lack of "real" conservatism. Many issues we face now would not have occurred if more "real" conservatives existed.
To put the ideas in picture form, a conservative is a grumpy grandfather. Liberalism is a 20 something grandchild bouncing off the walls wanting to change the world and everything built around grandpas ideas. These two are in business together, they both want to succeed. The Liberal will just gush with ideas, some good some bad. However, in the ideal context the liberal would have to convince the old man in a grueling long process that the old ways are not as good as the new, this is a slow process, but a safe one.
The current situation we have is to young men gushing with ideas, with no restraint. One is named "conservative(title only)" the other "liberal" both are bouncing, reinterpreting, changing, with no grounding or restraint. There is no rule book. All laws are applied in convenience only. We have no standards, no principles.
Now, I'm pretty much a 40% 60% mix of liberalism and conservatism. I'm all for mixing it up in a social context, I'm for trying new things in a corporate sense, I'm for new fresh approaches to old problems. However, I'm 99% against redefining basic fundamental concepts, such as property rights, separation of church and state, separation of government and private interests, wealth redistribution, gun rights,freedom of speech,freedom of the press. These things now have no guardians, or very few. We are ruled by people bouncing off the walls wanting to change, change, change. Well, we got change already, pre-emptive war, torture, officially sanctioned domestic spying, near omnipotent presidential authority.
This country is lost. Truly every year it looks more lost, and unprincipled than the last, that is not an accident. There is virtually no one guarding the core principles. It's the Lord of the flies.
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