Being a Conservative

[TheStripey1]

OK... Here's another chance for the right to articulate their beliefs...

Define what it means to you to be a Conservative.

No, I don't hold much hope that they, the righties, will be able to respond to this topic either. It seems that they can only respond when they have talking points...

[Labrocca]

To me being a conservative means smaller government, more accountability for the budget, changing of our traditions and long history unacceptable, and allowing the people and businesses to work with minimal government interference.

[potter]

To me being a conservative means smaller government, more accountability for the budget, changing of our traditions and long history unacceptable, and allowing the people and businesses to work with minimal government interference.



I agree with this assessment.

But I don't understand the "changing of our traditions and long history as being unacceptible" though. Change in inevitable. Change is always going to happen whether you want it to or not. Fighting change only breeds discontent and promotes stagnation. How can society improve itself, in fact how can people ever improve their lot in life without change?

[Labrocca]

Change does happen...I had a tough time making that sentence short. Change is welcome but "radical" changes are not. Clinton had it right with "don't ask don't tell" policy for gays in the military. It was a step in the right direction. It wasn't a radical move to allow open gayness in the military yet it did give gays the opportunity to serve. Obviously eventually open gay military will be allowed (most likely at least). So slow change that's not radical and can be integrated into our culture and society imho are smart.

Fighting change only breeds discontent and promotes stagnation.

And fighting FOR change only breeds disdain and threatens the American way of life.

[potter]

Change does happen...I had a tough time making that sentence short. Change is welcome but "radical" changes are not. Clinton had it right with "don't ask don't tell" policy for gays in the military. It was a step in the right direction. It wasn't a radical move to allow open gayness in the military yet it did give gays the opportunity to serve. Obviously eventually open gay military will be allowed (most likely at least). So slow change that's not radical and can be integrated into our culture and society imho are smart.

Fighting change only breeds discontent and promotes stagnation.

And fighting FOR change only breeds disdain and threatens the American way of life.



You're absolutely right. Moderation is good :)

[Alonzo]

And fighting FOR change only breeds disdain and threatens the American way of life.


And those who fight change breed disdain as well. Fighting for pretty much anything will do that.

Though what is the american way of life?

[TheStripey1]

To me being a conservative means smaller government, more accountability for the budget, changing of our traditions and long history unacceptable, and allowing the people and businesses to work with minimal government interference.


Labrocca? That sounds just like the old school of Republicanism I grew up with. What happened to it?

[NortheastCynic]

To me there are three kinds of conservatives:

The Social Conservative: Government should be small, in that it is fiscally not bloated, but powerful in that it should regulate social behavior that is deemed immoral by a majority [or sometimes not] of people.

The Goldwater Conservative: Believes the government is there soley to defend the rights of the people, believe in a strong military but fiscal constraint elsewhere, doesn't really care if someone says "shit" on TV without being censored and fined $250,000.

The Neo-Conservative: A "large government" conservative that combines the fiscal irresponsibility of the left with the social moralism of the Christian right, the current President is the posterchild of this movement.
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Goldwater conservatives are what the Republican party USED to be made of, now neo-conservatives and social conservatives have taken over. Sadly, there is no viable party that believes in small, RESTRAINED, government.

-NC