Jed Marum, fair enough but I think you're over-reacting--I really don't remember many people saying conservatives are selfish waste products. I do remember hypocrites, once, and maybe some uncalled-for things, but, so it goes. It's an interesting thread.

   I liked what John Hardly said also, but beg to differ if that's okay. That aside, and though he did draw some connections between some issues, it still seems there isn't any essential reason why a collection of views--however descriptive or apt--seem to collect together. It may collectively describe most conservatives I know pretty well, but what's the reason, the thru-line that seems to connect these issues in a general way? They often are connected by people. It's as interesting a question if applied to liberal views also.

Another interesting question is why would a liberal assume a conservative who may be no wealthier than they are, or much less, would be devoted to guarding the interests of the wealthy?

   Anyway, I toss my opinions in not to offend or keep a closed mind, but because--whatever the core of these conservative views is, I may be missing something, but I sincerely think they are often missing something. I'd like to hear what it is, rather than be accused of envy hate or whatever.

   I'm still thinking what I already said about conservative economic views, and don't mean offence. It must be like a game. Because one can't really earnestly get into a free competetive market without some of that spirit, you can deal with it, as we all do, but can't really believe in it, otherwise. The idea that the market rewards us just falls short of reality for me--nobody REALLY believes the market rewards the best, or even those who seriously meant to succeed. Everyone knows of accidental successes and undeserved failures, the market by itself doesn't care about anyone's values, and would rather make a pornographic toy of them. And yet people go on about it as if it made sense, all the exceptions are just the big ol' pile of exceptions that somehow prove the rule.

   Is life like that economic game? Sure, there's no helping that some people are more gifted, more fortunate, that life has risks and harms. But when we confuse our own active human policies with forces of nature, and suppose we can have gross excess because we can truly deserve it, we are seriously kidding ourselves. For me, the only explanation of how intelligent people can keep believing in conservative Free Market mythology is that well, it seems like life, it draws you in to a way of seeing things, like a game. And it also draws one into narcissistic fantasies, which seem to me to explain a lot of behaviors and notions that would otherwise make no sense at all.
But I'd like to think I could have an open mind to other views, if I heard them.