Just an interesting and very truthful view on conservatives.

[zonmoy]

To understand Conservatism, shall we read a few good Conservative authors like William F. Buckley and George Will (both of whom are brilliant), then summarize the principles they explain to us?



Shall we then organize our notes and write a nice little essay on Conservatism? Something creative and clever? We can quote a few Conservative leaders like Arizona’s Barry Goldwater (whom I admired very much), former English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former President Ronald Reagan, and perhaps even President G. W. Bush - thus capturing the expression of Conservative thought in its native tongue?



This would have earned a good grade from Professor Leonard in “POLS 304 - American Political Thought.” If I were to write such an essay and you were to read it, then we both would surely understand Conservatism, wouldn’t we?



Unfortunately, no, we would not. American Conservatism is a complex thing, and is not easily understood. However, a Machiavellian can begin to understand it if he or she is willing to consider the following ideas:

http://www.midasjones.com/html/what_is_conservatism_.htm

[The Magistrate]

1. That Is A Beautiful Piece, Sir! Thank You For Sharing It

[unblock]

2. conservativism is not a coherent political philosophy but a path to power -- that's it in a nutshell

[rudy23]

3. This is why you can't win "arguments" with conservatives.

They don't think in terms of "arguments". They think in rationalizations--all towards the goal of "survival" (or what we may call "hording").

You know you've come as close to winning an argument with a conservative as you can whenever they change the subject, or go meta ("if you're so good at arguing, how come you're not DOING more to help?"). They may play obtuse, or start throwing up strawmen. They will never, and I mean never say, "that's a great point, I hadn't considered it that way."

They are the party of survival by any means necessary--this is what guides whatever morality they have. The idea of "shoot first, ask questions later" flies in the face of liberal idealism, but it is the backbone of conservative "morality".

Sorry for the egregious quote marks, but it's troubling how much this barbaric behavior is made acceptable through euphemisms and flimsy arguments.

[corkhead]

4. I think conservatism can be boiled down to one sentence:

Conservatives are the predators of society and everyone and every thing else is their prey.

[Jccarr]

8. I'm sure that you've met conservatives in real life...

Do they seem that way to you? As people?

I ask not to troll, but honestly.

[Lithos]

5. Interesting

Good, but not as good as Dean's "Conservatives without a Conscience". A little sloppy and inconsistent at times.

L-

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

6. This is why leftists have got to take the veils off their faces

We want social and economic justice, cultural freedom and pluralism, peace, sustainability. The point being is that we're not going to win over the hearts of hard-core conservatives so let's focus on the political FIGHT. The mission is to implement liberal/progressive/leftist policies. Period. Not to compromise with factions that are diametrically opposed to our shared set of values. It should actually be easier for us to stay together because our diverse host of causes are more compatible with each other than is the hodgepodge of contradictory ideas on the right.

Just as if I were (still) a socialist in a country with a fairly strong socialist movement, our agenda would be the spreading of our ideas and principles, and the acquisition of political and economic power. Power grabs are not a bad thing if the power is not an end in itself and you don't romanticize the power relationship. The effective radical's attitude is tempered with the mission at hand.

[bhbwl]

7. I take exception to the text...

From the text:
"This is not to say that Conservatives are confused and therefore 'bad,' so that Liberalism must therefore be coherent and 'good.' Liberalism is an extinct political philosophy whose cadaver is still spoken of as if alive. Its only function now is to serve as a tackle-dummy for Conservative speakers and writers."

This is expressly untrue. Conservatism and conservatives are inherently BAD. Liberalism and liberals are inherently GOOD. Liberalism is the mainstream of American thought; all truly right-thinking people, when given a choice between a conservative and liberal alternatives, naturally choose the liberal. Those who don't cannot be said to be rational.

The only people who honestly call themselves conservative are the gullible and the outright evil. The former must be led and will come around in time, but the latter must be completely destroyed.

We can only hope Obama finishes the job in his first term, or else we're going to go through this same whole ugly mess in 4 years.