Define "Conservatism". What It Means. What Qualifies One. Opinions Wanted.

originally posted by: ketsuko
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I DO however think we should recognize what happened, and tack a charge in manslaughter on to the rapist's sentence. I'd say murder, but he didn't intend for a pregnancy to result.

Thats pretty much what id like to see, blame the rapist for the abortion too.

Fear.

Fear for the future.

In contrast to fury, which is something more closely associated with progressive thinking.

a reply to: BatheInTheFountain

They did, yes, but then all of that was preserved and filtered through the Renaissance and Enlightenment which were in large part made possible by heavily Christian Europe. Many of the Enlightenment's best thinkers were inspired in part by faith.

Not to mention the idea of unalienable rights and the ideas of personal salvation tie in to the ideas of individuality and individual liberty. The Founders were brought up in that atmosphere and brought it into their thinking.

Again, just because those ideas and ideals had heavy influence does not mean you have to believe in those doctrines personally, but it is a mistake to ignore their influence.

a reply to: FyreByrd

As is well known, anarchists use the terms “libertarian”, “libertarian socialist” and “libertarian communist” as equivalent to “anarchist” and, similarly, “libertarian socialism” or “libertarian communism” as an alternative for “anarchism.” This is perfectly understandable, as the anarchist goal is freedom, liberty, and the ending of all hierarchical and authoritarian institutions and social relations.

A great pretzel bender that is.

"Anarchists" seek to completely overthrow established government systems.

a reply to: xuenchen

Then you have the libertarians who are simply in it because they know libertarianism freely endorses their freedom to enjoy all the vices known to man, but when you suggest they should also be personally responsible for all the potential consequences that could result (i.e. decoupling the social welfare state from it), you find out they are all for social welfare too.

In other words, they more or less want to be subsidized in their hedonistic and nihilistic impulses.

I'm not sure what you call them, but those are left leaning libertarians of a sort. Liberaltarians?

Religious, including but not exclusively Christian, attitudes and behaviors have greatly contributed to the belief in communistic and socialistic social orders.

In America, the Progressive movement was supported by almost everyone for thousands of different reasons. But the common ground for a one power to rule over everything came from Christianity.

a reply to: FyreByrd

Leftness oozes from your quote

That defenders of the hierarchy associated with private property seek to associate the term “libertarian” for their authoritarian system is both unfortunate and somewhat unbelievable to any genuine libertarian.

Private property needs no hierarchy. Private property is as natural as human speech and social cooperation.

Most educated people think that the Left is the impartial center, if taken at their word. Big government leftism has been the default media and educational position since the Spanish American War in the US.

The facts are somewhat different. As Murray Bookchin noted, “libertarian” was “a term created by nineteenth-century European anarchists, not by contemporary American right-wing proprietarians.”

Libertarian was coined to distinguish individualist Classical Liberals from socialists because the politically pandering socialists were stealing the word Liberal away from the Classical Liberals.

Now it seems the Socialists are coming for the term Libertarian. Very Orwellian . Socialists take away the words so that thought cannot be communicated easily.

a reply to: SublimecraftBlimey, it's a sign you don't live in the UK. We have a Conservative government here and the traditional values,traditions and customs that they want you to follow are quite simple. WE are better than you, tip your forelock when we deign to let you speak to us and we'll crap on you from a great height and you WIll accept it.
When are you Yanks ever going to learn> The vast majority of your ancestors emigrated to the US to escape the conservative way of running a country. ie. Your beholden to your landowner and live or die at his behest. Let them get their political foot in the door and you'll rue that day.
Conservatives have no feelings for the ordinary man in the street, only as servants and cash cows. You have been warned.

Conservatism is the most difficult political idea to rationally defend (part of its charm in my opinion), but only because it is more difficult to defend our institutions and customs than it is to criticize and destroy them, and erect some fantasy in their place.

As someone who is irreligious, it requires for me a lot of tolerance in the Voltarian sense to accept the existence of religious orthodoxy, and thus what I would deem irrational beliefs, but the free exchange of ideas, and the freedom to associate, is paramount to any naturally spontaneous society. We must conserve the secular customs and institutions that have served us well in this regard. Theocracy is not a conservative principle.

Conservatism finds the natural occurrence of society, our longstanding customs and laws, as a more qualified, tested, and empirical approach to what a society is, as opposed to some abstract conception of what a society should be. For conservatism, the means justify the ends, as opposed to the ends justify the means. The "means" is always the people, who in something like Communism, become the material with which to build societies, but only ever to disastrous consequences. This has proven to be true, given the failed political experiments of the 20th century, which resulted in the deaths of millions to no good effect.

A conservative believes (in my opinion) that he defends the cultural, social, territorial, and spiritual wisdom of their fellow man, as they pass from past to present to future. As such he defends their fellow man.

a reply to: TheTory

Conservatism finds the natural occurrence of society, our longstanding customs and laws, as a more qualified, tested, and empirical approach to what a society is, as opposed to some abstract conception of what a society should be.

Well said. Quotable in fact.

In common speech, conservatism means using the conservative party to pass central government legislation. Sad but true.

originally posted by: TheTory
Conservatism is the most difficult political idea to rationally defend (part of its charm in my opinion), but only because it is more difficult to defend our institutions and customs than it is to criticize and destroy them, and erect some fantasy in their place.

As someone who is irreligious, it requires for me a lot of tolerance in the Voltarian sense to accept the existence of religious orthodoxy, and thus what I would deem irrational beliefs, but the free exchange of ideas, and the freedom to associate, is paramount to any naturally spontaneous society. We must conserve the secular customs and institutions that have served us well in this regard. Theocracy is not a conservative principle.

Conservatism finds the natural occurrence of society, our longstanding customs and laws, as a more qualified, tested, and empirical approach to what a society is, as opposed to some abstract conception of what a society should be. For conservatism, the means justify the ends, as opposed to the ends justify the means. The "means" is always the people, who in something like Communism, become the material with which to build societies, but only ever to disastrous consequences. This has proven to be true, given the failed political experiments of the 20th century, which resulted in the deaths of millions to no good effect.

A conservative believes (in my opinion) that he defends the cultural, social, territorial, and spiritual wisdom of their fellow man, as they pass from past to present to future. As such he defends their fellow man.

I agree, especially with the incompatibility of theocratic socioeconomic policy. I find it no less repulsive than secular interventionism.

It isn't that I disagree with any particular position but that they would presume to wield the awesome destructive power of the federal government upon those who would disagree.

When people pass laws, they are in fact saying that they want to commit violence on those who disobey the directive as force is the only tool available. It's really that simple.

originally posted by: Semicollegiate
a reply to: FyreByrd

Leftness oozes from your quote

That defenders of the hierarchy associated with private property seek to associate the term “libertarian” for their authoritarian system is both unfortunate and somewhat unbelievable to any genuine libertarian.

Private property needs no hierarchy. Private property is as natural as human speech and social cooperation.

Most educated people think that the Left is the impartial center, if taken at their word. Big government leftism has been the default media and educational position since the Spanish American War in the US.

The facts are somewhat different. As Murray Bookchin noted, “libertarian” was “a term created by nineteenth-century European anarchists, not by contemporary American right-wing proprietarians.”

Libertarian was coined to distinguish individualist Classical Liberals from socialists because the politically pandering socialists were stealing the word Liberal away from the Classical Liberals.

Now it seems the Socialists are coming for the term Libertarian. Very Orwellian . Socialists take away the words so that thought cannot be communicated easily.

It seems to be a basic 'r' reproductive strategy.