BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Amos
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 12:39 PM

LH:

You raise an interesting point. I have usually observed that fredom of speech is more important to liberals, because they often have things to say which are less comfortable. Freedom of religion is certainly more of a liberal trait, as they have less interest in establishmentarian protocols. Freedom to bear arms, usually, in my experience, is more frequently a conservative cause.

A

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Forum Lurker
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 12:22 PM

John Hardly-The first parts of the definitions were correct. Liberals believe in change, usually because they see problems that need to be corrected. Conservatives believe in much less change, because they tend to focus on what's already good and shouldn't be risked. The wealthy tend to be conservatives, and the poor liberals, because of what they stand to gain by either position. Self-interest is present on both sides of the equation.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 12:09 PM

Proud to be a thorn in yer side there, Guest 11:53. I'm even more proud to be an electoral threat to the status quo, though.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 12:01 PM

Or the dog the flea.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 11:53 AM

Guest of 10:39 can be cosidered a vandal, not a serious thinker. The fact that he defaces every thread he can is a threat to Mudcat, as well as to honorable liberals who must carry him and his ilk around like the sailor carried the albatros.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 11:50 AM

My impression is that political conservatives tend to place their first emphasis on individual freedoms...while political liberals tend to place their first emphasis on group responsibilities and rights within the group. So one is worried about what may happen to stifle the individual's rights while the other is worried about what may happen to harm the general community...which ultimately will harm the individual (specially the individual with less money and power).

But that's only one way of looking at it.

Most (if not all) people are conservative about some things and liberal about other things.

So who is really a conservative and who is really a liberal?

Most people resist change, unless it's a change that they thought of themselves! (dogs are like that too, if you will observe...)

When we talk about liberals and conservatives are we talking about politics, religion, philosophy, science, dress codes, race consciousness, economic policy, or what?

I'll say this, though: to be healthy a society must become a blend of both liberal and conservative values, and find a way to combine them creatively, not divide itself into endless wrangling and combat over what is the essential divide (like masculine and feminine) in human psychology. The divide is not meant to provoke war, it is meant to provoke useful partnerships and new growth.

That's why Doug R and I are going to go on that fishing trip one of these days... :-)

Oh, and young conservatives are made of Kraft cheese and polyester. Young liberals are made of blue denim and guacamole. That's all you need to know.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 11:48 AM

Agreed, Ebbie. These are truly chaotic times in the history of the US. I think many a conservative as well as many a liberal, now regrets the reactionary measures taken in the months after 9/11.

It would be good if those who are now opposing the FCC ruling, raising doubts about the US Patriot Act, chastising the Bush administration for post-war planning and the disastrous economic course they have put this country on, could actually get together and do some brainstorming for the good of their country, instead of just their own special interest lobbies, their re-election campaigns, and their political party.

I know of only one senator who, in the wake of 9/11, had the guts to vote both his conscience, and for what he believed was for the good of the country, and that senator was not Paul Wellstone.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 11:41 AM

I was being somewhat tic above but I am serious in my view that we -all of us - need to take a clear look at where we are heading. It is too late already for some things- after all, the time to adjust one's aim is before pulling the trigger.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: John Hardly
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 11:10 AM

'How about we clear the air and go back to basic definitions? A liberal is someone who believes in changing more readily for the good of large groups of people, while a conservative is someone who believes in changing only slowly and preserving the strengths of those in power."

Wow.   That sure clears the air for me! Nice to see someone can formulate an agenda-free definition. Tell me, did you really think you were being even handed, or were you being as tongue-in-cheek as I?

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 11:01 AM

"One would prefer to just say We believe in the Constitution, rather than worry about the parts that condoned slavery"- Fred Miller

Please don't bring up slavery, Adolph Hitler or any of the other standard faire used by liberals to paint conservatives. My ancestors wore blue in the Civil War and they wore the U.S. uniform in WW II. There is no part of the Constitution that allows slavery. Most people in Mudcat are actually intelligent and can carry on a debate on a higher plane if they try.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 10:39 AM

"While I was only listening while driving, and therefore unable to take notes, the comments of the Democrat pollsters, did not bode well for the Democrats."

Actually, that was a poll commissioned by the Republicrat wing of the Democratic party (the Clintonian Democratic Leadership Council, currently bleeding to death from lack of support within the party) in an attempt to scare the Democratic wing of the Democratic party, into submission and supporting Joe Lieberman for president.

The thing is, they HAD to commission that poll, because everyone knows the Democratic wing of the Democratic party would like nothing better than to see the Republicrats move to the Republican Party, where they belong.

"...the comments of the Democrat pollsters, did not bode well for the Democrats. "

Mmmhmmm. They say. The left as boogie man. Haven't heard that one before. These are the same Democrats who insulting claim--routinely--that the Democratic Party alienates and cannot attract white males to the party as activists or voters. Which is pretty much a slap in the face to all the white male party activists and voters. The truth is, the Democratic wing of the Democratic party cannot, and does not want to attract Republican and ideologically conservative independent white male activists and voters, to join them. Nor do they need to in order to win. What they need is to be more confident and self-assured in their political positions, rather than all smarmy, feel good, tell-the-Limbaugh worshipping white-boys-what-they-want-to-hear sound bytes.

"Because if the new young conservatives are people who can get a higher education, find and keep a well-paying job, and raise children in intact families, you truely are in trouble..."

Insinuating what exactly, there Clinton? That all progressive Democrats are uneducated welfare sluts, trailer trash, and (insert racial expletive here)?

Ya know, it's funny how those Clinton Republicrats just ignore the fact that it was the progressives who voted for Nader or sat the election out, who could have won the last election for Gore.

No political clout, you say? I beg to differ. Dean is a great candidate to go against Bush precisely because he can unite the progressives and the right of the Democratic center "moderates". There are so few true conservatives remaining in the party, they are largely irrelevant, except for their money raising capabilities. But if Dean becomes the candidate (and he is no progressive, but at least, a lot of progressives could hold their nose to vote for him), the money will come.

One thing I do love about Dean is, because he is raising so much money from individuals on the internet, he hasn't become beholden (yet) to the special interests, as Kerry and the other big name candidates have been for so long. Kerry made a fatal mistake supporting the Bush war on Iraq. A fatal mistake he likely can't recover from this election cycle, anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Kim C
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 10:35 AM

I'm largely conservative. I don't hate anybody. I create a lot of things. I believe people should take responsibility for themselves instead of relying on The Government to take care of them; however, realizing that some people are not in a position to take care of themselves, I believe The Government should have sound, decent programs to help those people, or they should encourage and help individual communities to have programs to help those people.

I'm 35. I don't know if that makes me young or not.

Anyhow I don't appreciate sweeping generalizations about ANYONE, conservative, liberal, Christian, pagan, whatever.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 10:30 AM

First, I must disagree with CarolC. The article in question was released by an official university source and, as such, I can't believe it wasn't checked by the authors of the study.

Scenond, When you replace the emotional terms in the report with neutral ones (pick whatever you like, as long as it fits), the report isn't much different from what I learned in high school in the early '60's. ie. Conservatives are more concerned with property rights than liberals are. Conservatives want to use old methods of problem solving and liberals want to experiment to find something better.

I think the religious element is a fairly recent overlay and should be considered as a thing in itself for the nonce.

In other words, I don't think there's anything truly new here.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Amos
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 10:02 AM

I used to think about conservatives that by definiton they were interested in preserving the status quo and making changes cautiously. That's more or less what the word means. However, just as the word "liberal" has been re-defined by the black PR crews in the last few years to now mean "stupid" or "naive" or "destructive" -- depends on who you listen to -- the word conservative has now grown to mean "stupid" "manipulative" "destructive" or "radically reactionary and militant".

How about we clear the air and go back to basic definitions? A liberal is someone who believes in changing more readily for the good of large groups of people, while a conservative is someone who believes in changing only slowly and preserving the strengths of those in power.

All this semantic abuse -- meaning trompling on perfectly good words in order to forward agendae or feed an angle -- is really tedious.

A

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 09:52 AM

But according to H J Eysenck, conservatism/liberalism is largely due to nurture, while aggressivness/passiveness is largely due to nature; the two are quite independent and unconnected. This is why people don't always behave as their political views might lead you to expect.

I'm not sure that the US has anything equivalent to our Young Conservatives, though.

And Guest, its a shame more people in the government and its agencies don't beleive in upholding the Constitution, whatever their politics.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: GUEST,Claymore
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 09:38 AM

I'm not sure that I would agree with any of the views expressed above, pro or con. And since the title deals with "young" conservatives, I'm not sure that an old conservative could answer the question. But to those who really care to understand the issue I woud invite them to research the polls presented at the recent Democratic Leadership Conference held last week in Philadelphia. C-SPAN radio carried the results in their entirety, and several papers carried a synopsis.

While I was only listening while driving, and therefore unable to take notes, the comments of the Democrat pollsters, did not bode well for the Democrats.

my recollection was that the new conservatives are coming primarily from the young married white males, young married females of any race, people with jobs in the salary range of $25,000 to $40,000, suburbanites, people with college educations or "professional credentials", etc. In addition, the Democratic party is almost evenly devided between conservative Democrats and liberals.

In short, his message is that if the Democrats select a liberal candidate for President, (ala Mondale, McGovern, Dukakis) they will repeat the "home state and DC" voter tally.

But I digress; perhaps someone who is not interested in a diatribe, could find and present the above poll results as a blue clicky. Since it is a Democrat pollster, it might be interesting for you folks to see what you are up against. Because if the new young conservatives are people who can get a higher education, find and keep a well-paying job, and raise children in intact families, you truely are in trouble...

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 09:25 AM

Here's a page with a bunch of pictures of Young Conservatives over the years.

And the sriking thing is, it appears to be a page not actually intended to make fun of them...

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: MC Fat
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 09:12 AM

Shit, keech, jobbies

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Sam L
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 08:51 AM

I think you make a pretty darned good point there, Ebbie. I think the skepticism of liberals hurts them with the public, especially as t.v. candidates. One would prefer simple answers that just sound good.

One would prefer to just say We believe in the Constitution, rather than worry about the parts that condoned slavery, the inherent problems of equitable democratic representation, the kinds of questions of democracy that the framers could not forsee. So much easier to suppose our founding Dads knew everything.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 08:10 AM

Look here and be afraid. Be very afraid...;-)

Cheers

Dave the (never conservative and never young) Gnome

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: John Hardly
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 07:54 AM

the article doesn't even come close to defining "conservative" as I know it to be.

Guest was inelegant, but his observations were right about the fears of most who post "below the line" here, and how those fears are expressed....
....unendingly.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 12:58 AM

Yep, Guest 11:22 is a conservative. Cocksure, ain't he?

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: LadyJean
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 12:29 AM

I am a liberal. I never ever gamble! Bill Bennett is a conservative. He gambles a lot, (several million dollars worth, he says.) I know gambling money goes to gangsters, and other criminal types. You would think Bill Bennett would know that too, but he doesn't. I know that money spent gambling would be better spent at the local bookstore, music store, or on food for my church's food pantry. You would think that would have occurred to Bill Bennett too.
A bookstore opened in St. Ignace Michigan, last year. The local fundamentalists discovered that it would carry "Playboy" and "Penthouse" and went on the warpath. They complained to the city council, who pointed out to them that the convenience store at the gas station had been carrying the same magazines for years, and they hadn't complained about that! The story suggests these guys aren't afraid of girlie magazines. They're afraid of books.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 11:22 PM

A few years back I was out with my brother driving around in the hills above Newberg in Oregon. There are big homes up there, each with a wonderful view. I said, It seems too bad that poor people never get a view like that. My brother was surprised. He said, Oh, I think that's fair, don't you? They have the money for it. He never understood what I was saying.

On that very subject though, there is a new thing in Juneau that I like. Housing First is a local non-profit that, as they get the money, buys real estate then builds a four-plex for low income people on it. Twice now, they've built on the mountainside overlooking the city and the ocean beyond- the tenants must have a gorgeous view.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 11:22 PM

You hateful bunch of creeps do the same rant over and over and over ad nauseum. Conservative people ( U.S. meaning) believe in the constitution and conduct themselves in a decent, honorable fashion, respecting others as they would like others to respect then. You cretins have invented your own definition to use as a punching bag. Your definition has no basis in reality. You are clearly the most bigoted, hateful, ignorant people this side of ....

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Bert
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 10:41 PM

I'm waiting for the thread name game to place this thread in juxtaposition to the Vegemite thread.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: NicoleC
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 10:39 PM

I know what you mean, Ebbie. I find that my interpretation of conservative philosophy varies widely from what many self-proclaimed "conservatives" are saying today. Political conservatism is NOT synonmous with hatred and rabid religiousity, but they sure seem to be trying to turn it in to that.

I have a friend who is a very thoughtful and reasoned conservative, and lots of fun to debate with because he usually knows WHY he thinks what he thinks instead of parroting some pre-programmed belief. Nonetheless he has some real blindspots about his own attitudes. For example, unlike most conservatives, he's in favor of universal healthcare coverage -- but with limits. I agree: I'd place the limits on those items necessary to physical and mental health, and exclude stuff like fertility treatments and cosmetic surgery.

This very normally articulate gentleman couldn't specify HIS definition of limits. He fumbled around with dollar figures and such, and mumbled about treatments for diseases that usually kill people, then finally blurted out, "You don't think a janitor with no money should get the same healthcare as someone like Bill Gates!"

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 10:00 PM

A better one, imo, that I read the other day: "Stupidity is cocksure, intelligence is full of doubt."
Insert 'conservatism 'and 'liberalism' in the proper places and it pretty much spells out what I tend to believe. (On the other hand, I know a number of conservatives that I love, even if I don't understand how they developed some of their opinions. There don't seem to be any answers, darn it. But oh. We are in trouble...- and some conservatives are in deep, deep denial.)

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: NicoleC
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 09:53 PM

I think I'd be interested in the original report. The article, unfortunately, put a spin on the findings in the first half before allowing the researchers to explain their conclusions. It puts the researcher on the defensive trying justify reaching certain conclusions -- the conclusions of which are hardly astounding.

If we can accept that a very broad interpretation of conservative philosophy is defending the status quo ("if it ain't broke...), while liberal as seeking change for the better because it isn't perfect, then it's hardly a leap of imagination to conclude that conservatives would generally be more resistant to change!

Subject: RE: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Bobert
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 09:35 PM

Well, Amos. I'd have to disagree with the research. In my opinion, conservatism is "pathological". It is a sickness of deep fears about unknowns and possibilities. It has never taken mankind one danged step further down the road. Quite to opposite. Conservatives create very little because of their nature. All they do is react rather than proact. Life is not in the windshield but in the rear view mirror.

That's my take...

Bobert

Subject: BS: What are Young Conservatives Made Of?
From: Amos
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 09:19 PM

Here's one well-reasoned theory about what leads to a conservative (meaning rightist) mindset. Just for your entertainment! Of course it does come from Berekeley, but so do some of the best people!


A