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hardbodysub -> RE: Politically Conservative BDSMers? (8/1/2008 7:51:47 PM)
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I think this whole thread is pretty funny. That goes for the OP as well as many of the responses. The OP actually had a legitimate point, but practically everyone failed to recognize it because he screwed up on a couple counts: (1) he didn't distinguish between fiscal and social conservativism, or acknowledge that a person could be one, yet not the other; (2) he used such an abrasive tone that people simply got their hackles raised and responded with the typical knee-jerk reaction flames. Emotions turn on --> brains turn off. Not to say that every response had no logic, but most of them missed the point rather badly.
General comments regarding the words "conservative" and "liberal":
The original (and I would say "correct", although that's just my opinion) definition of "conservative" is pretty much as the OP suggests. However, the right wing "noise machine" for the past 20 years has run a thoroughly planned propaganda campaign to redefine the words "conservative" and "liberal", by continually repeating phrases such as "tax and spend liberal", and associating the word "conservative" with virtues such as fiscal responsibility, rational thinking, pragmatism, patriotism, strong national defense, individual freedom, and defense of the Constitution.
They've been very successful. They've re-defined patriotism, convincing a lot of people that it means wearing flag lapel pins and marching unquestioningly in lock-step with the right-wing government, rather than loving your country and wanting to help it live up to the ideas and principles that it stands for. They've got a lot of people thinking that liberal is a dirty word meaning tax-and-spend, tree-hugging, wishy-washy, weak on defense, etc., etc., despite the fact that "liberal" has nothing to do with any of those things, and everything to do with open-mindedness, forward-thinking, willingness to accept new ideas and adapt to changing circumstances. Repeat a lie enough times, and a lot of people will eventually believe it.
The main actions of conservatives in our government during those 20 years have been to erode liberty (do I even have to list the stunts they've pulled here?), ignore fiscal responsibility (out-of-control spending coupled with tax breaks to the rich, leaving absurd deficits and squeezing the middle class to death), and abandon rational thinking and pragmatism (ignoring overwhelming scientific evidence of global climate change, not to mention evolution), in favor of policies that entrench the already rich and powerful, and to make our country less safe by pursuing a hidden agenda in the so-called war on terror. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Republican, was a harbinger of the abuse of power in today's government when he warned against the emerging power of the "military-industrial complex". Such a comment would virtually get him tossed out of the Republican party today. Barry Goldwater was considered a staunch conservative in his time; most of his principles and policies would be considered liberal in today's climate.
"Political conservative" today means nothing at all, because the word has been so bastardized that nobody really knows what the hell they're talking about.
I'm an independent. I don't like the Democratic Party. But I dislike the Republican Party much more. They've been telling the most egregious lies, and doing so much in direct opposition to the most important principles of our country. Shameful.
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