Questions for my conservative friends

I invite conservative members here to tell me their ideas on a few questions. I'm not asking to judge or belittle. I'm genuinely curious.

Please keep it civil, whatever your political bent or country of origin might be.

1. What are your thoughts on pollution and the environment? What, if anything, should be done about it?

2. Are large corporations trustworthy?

3. What should the role of public lands be?

4. Do you care about organic food? Why or why not?

5. What is an ideal health care system?

6. Is "Buy Local" worthwhile?

7. How much education do you consider necessary for a decent living?

I'm eager to hear your responses. Have a lovely Friday night, ATS.

originally posted by: Look2theSacredHeart
I invite conservative members here to tell me their ideas on a few questions. I'm not asking to judge or belittle. I'm genuinely curious.

Please keep it civil, whatever your political bent or country of origin might be.

1. What are your thoughts on pollution and the environment? What, if anything, should be done about it?

2. Are large corporations trustworthy?

3. What should the role of public lands be?

4. Do you care about organic food? Why or why not?

5. What is an ideal health care system?

6. Is "Buy Local" worthwhile?

7. How much education do you consider necessary for a decent living?

I'm eager to hear your responses. Have a lovely Friday night, ATS.

I consider myself conservative about a lot of things.

1) We should take better care of our environment, that would be a conservative approach. Yet some people believe conservatives are the ones that disregard the environment. True conservatives are more into nature.

2) never trust large corporations, that would be stupid. A small family run business or small corporation locally is another thing, they deal with the public in your community, they live there.

3) To be public, but not to be abused by any individual or group.

4)We buy some organic foods, I am more interested in buying foods raised correctly, organic foods often are. Conservative again, I resist change, I was used to this back when I was young, I researched this already in the sixties and saw a lot of chemicals banned that were considered safe.

5) Ideal health care to me would be socialized medicine

6) I prefer to buy local, I like to support my own neighbors and their kids. We need jobs in our community, we do not need to support people at Amazon in some other state.

7)A high school degree is all you should need to make a decent living, then work your way up the ladder at the job. We still need some people going college, but way too many people are going and there isn't enough jobs in those fields. We need some more jobs manufacturing things our society needs, like toasters, dishes, pots and pans, and appliances. You do not need a college degree to assemble things. Actually the liberals are saying everyone needs to go into debt to go to college. Most people working as teachers are liberals around here, I don't know if they are like that everywhere.

Ill play.
1. Earths been here a long long time with many climate changes with or without humans. When shes ready she will shake us off like fleas. So do as you will. No stopping an ice age or whatnot. We dont control anything nature-wise as much as we wish we did.
2. Depends on the corp.
3. Public lands should be public.
4. No. I like steak and potatoes just the way they are.
5. Ideal healthcare is free for everyone like canada and lots of other countries. We pay tax for a reason.
6. Buy local is loyal and "patriotic". But not necessarily necessary. Depends on how much you want to make america great again.
7. Not much. Refer to a whole bunch of not too educated wealthy folk.
And u have a good friday yourself

originally posted by: Look2theSacredHeart

I invite conservative members here to tell me their ideas on a few questions. I'm not asking to judge or belittle. I'm genuinely curious.

1. What are your thoughts on pollution and the environment? What, if anything, should be done about it?

Recycling should be the law of the land. If you don't want to sort your own trash, then you should pay a sorting fee.

2. Are large corporations trustworthy?

Publicly traded corporations? Hell no.

3. What should the role of public lands be?

I don't have time to answer that one right now.

4. Do you care about organic food? Why or why not?

Yes.

I believe we've put too much faith in the people who are growing and processing our "food".

5. What is an ideal health care system?

A free one.

That would require a much better government though.

6. Is "Buy Local" worthwhile?

Absolutely, no matter what economic model you use.

7. How much education do you consider necessary for a decent living?

Enough to do the job you want.



Wait... what did you mean by "conservative"?

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

I'm actually a libertarian---which these days gets lumped with conservatives---and that's mostly okay because we do want to conserve liberty. But I'll give you my thoughts.

1. We've gotten a good handle of the worst of the pollution, as far as preventing rivers from catching fire and the like. But we still have big problems in the area of nuclear waste and pesticide pollution of waterways. Getting citizens involved in prevention and clean-up efforts seems a commonsense approach to the things citizens can do. Legislators are going to have to figure out the nuclear waste issue. They are the ones who let it get out of hand. We're still going to have pour a lot of money into the post-WWII sites that were contaminated. Perhaps new technologies will make these clean-ups less expensive. We need to seek out those technologies.

2. I'm pretty sure there might be a large corporation somewhere that is trustworthy but I can't name one.

3. Public lands should be in state or local government control. Local and regional conservation districts have been proven the most efficient management method. Partnerships between government and non-profit conservation groups and other grass roots organizations help to get the citizens involved in decisions.

4. I garden organically, both food and ornamentals. I encourage others to do likewise by teaching workshops on how it works, how to use your "garbage" to grow food and flowers. I do this because I'm highly sensitive to chemicals used in chemical farming. I suffered from DDT poisoning in the late '60s.

5. An ideal health care system is one that provides the best available care for its patients. That would be a health care system that went back to being a profession instead of an industry. Health care decisions should be made by patients after consultation with their physicians, not be told what their care will be after the docs consult the patient's insurance company. This is why I am currently an outlaw in the eyes of the government. I refuse to put a corporate entity between me and my health.

6. I believe it is worthwhile to the locals from which I buy my eggs, meat, fruit and veggies. If I'm not satisfied with my purchase I can make my complaint directly---no dialing 1-800-...and waiting for automated messages. I can negotiate the price many times or even trade. Works for me.

7. I have no idea. I know high school dropouts who are millionaires and PhDs living in public housing. Coming from generations of teachers, I'm probably biased. Our kids all went to college, grandkids too. But I might note that only one of the five of our children is currently in a career they envisioned in college. My Beloved and I both taught for decades at the university level and encountered our fair share of students who should not have been there.

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

1...I love the environment and I take care of it .

2...People are usually the issue .I don't think a corporation would last long in my neck of the woods if they were criminal .

3... Public lands should be for the public to use.

4...Organic food is great .It taste good and is good for the environment .

5...I think if you took big business out of health care it would find its own mojo .

6...I think in a lot of cases buying local is cool but most stuff comes from away .

7...I don't think a education should be required to make a living .

Have a good one yourself

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

Great questions btw.

I am more of a Libertarian.

Am I being detained ?

originally posted by: Bone75
a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

Great questions btw.

You all are giving some great answers! Thank you for your thoughtful replies! My husband and I are having a fun time reading through them. There's much more common ground between you and us than I expected. We might not agree on individual policies, but we do on the central ideas.

originally posted by: whyamIhere
I am more of a Libertarian.

Am I being detained ?

: No, but I'll star you.

Im a nobody but since you and your husband enjoy us so much hows about YOU answer the questions to see how much we have in common. Let us be the judge

originally posted by: Look2theSacredHeart

1. What are your thoughts on pollution and the environment? What, if anything, should be done about it?

We live in a closed circuit environment ie 99.99% of what lays beneath the outer layers of the earth's atmosphere remains within it. However, the forms and places where various substances are stored on the earth has not been disturbed by man at the level we see today at any point in history.

We are upsetting the balance and in doing so are destroying the very environment that allows us to exist at all. The three reasons the world is in trouble are;

1) Most people still deny there is a problem at all
2) A lack of willingness as a result to do anything about it
3) The Mega wealthy see no reason to change when they can continue to make their fortunes in the same polluting way as always.

2. Are large corporations trustworthy?

Some are. Most are not. Corporations tend to put profit above all else and forget that they exist and are run by people for other people and that everyone needs a job. This is particularly true as we move toward the next disruptor, AI.

3. What should the role of public lands be?

By Public lands, I presume you mean parks and reserves? I believe that these lands need to be protected and kept pristine for both nature and future generations. I also believe that we should be able to enjoy them and use them for fishing and hunting where practical.

4. Do you care about organic food? Why or why not?

Yes. As the son of a farmer I can 100% say that good animal husbandry begins with correct nutrition. Many animal diseases can be traced back to poor nutrition and mineral deficiencies. Natural foods offer said benefits in a natural and bio available way. The human body is just an advanced animal, so good nutrition is just as essential for us.

5. What is an ideal health care system?

One where all health needs are met by the state. One where private hospitals still exist, but more for those who want and can afford better quality care ie longer hospital stays, shorter waiting times for operations etc.

6. Is "Buy Local" worthwhile?

Most definitely. Every dollar that I spend on local goods goes back to someone who lives near me. Countries like China have become immensely wealthy by siphoning off profits that would have gone into local businesses while many people are now without jobs and income.

7. How much education do you consider necessary for a decent living?

Higher education for all is bit of a scam. Plenty of people can do very well for themselves straight out of high school. What is desperately needed for decent living is better pay for the jobs that do not require high standards of education. I have never really understood why as humans we place higher value on certain jobs than others. ie I need my house cleaned just as much as I need a Doctor who can diagnose my health issues. Yet the person who cleans is paid a meagre wage while the Doctor is probably the one who hires them and drives a Mercedes Benz compared to the bus the cleaner catches. I'm not saying I believe in pay parity for every job, but much, much less disparity between all professions.

a reply to: Idreamofme

I'm a nobody, too! High five.

1. Agree with Ricky mouse, bone 75, most of what digging dirt said, and 2 of us r1. This is the one that surprised me most.

2. Agree with Ricky mouse, Bone 75, and Digging dirt. Monsanto, GE, hell, even Starbucks. I don't trust them a bit.

3. Agree with you, Ricky mouse, 2 of us are 1. Digging dirt brought up excellent ideas, but I don't trust my state legislature much to not give public land away to millionaires.

4. Agree with Ricky mouse, bone75, 2 of us r1, and Digging dirt is my organic food role model.

5. Agree with you, Ricky Mouse, and Bone 75. Health care should be like public schools.

6. We all are fairly close on Buy Local. 2 of us r1 must not need to rely on Walmart.

7. No one said a college degree is required. Neither my husband or I are in jobs connected to our degrees. Hubby is the first in his family to ever go to college, and he does construction. I think a degree can help get a leg up, but isn't necessary, especially in a rural area. My dad sent three daughters to private highschool with his high school diploma.

Edit to add: agree with Markosity on pretty much everything. Maybe influenced by his/her writing style.

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

Health Care:

First, address the artificial supply and demand of training new doctors. Med schools artificially keep that number very low.

Fixing the healthcare system is easy (in the US). Like Lasik surgery, prices fall when prices are clearly posted and there is competition for that service.

Under the current system, you don't have clear pricing and you just get stuck paying whatever the provider charges.


An Easy System that would definitely bring prices down and spur competition is mandatory services pricing similar to what we see with restaurants and most products and services today.

Wouldn't it be nice that if you needed an MRI on you abdomen, that you could check an ap or website and find all the providers in the area that offer it and the price? Same with any non-emergency service.

Like most dental insurance. Med insurance should again clearly show the $ amount that each coded procedure is payed. You as the member can choose to find a Doctor or provider and the difference payed will easily spur competition to lower prices.

If your insurance covers $550 for a xxx coded MRI, you can shop around and decide where you want to get it. Some providers might charge 1000, some 600, you choose and pay the difference.

The Healthcare Industrial Complex has went to great lengths and spend Billions of dollars to make sure the WE never talk about "Transparent Public Pricing" of non emergency medical procedures and tests.

Shopping for doctors, tests, imaging, and procedures should be as simple as reserving a trip on Priceline or similar website. Everything has a code, you can put that code into the search engine and get results by price of every provider within X number of miles of your choosing. Transparent pricing spurs competition and innovation. Look at Lasik surgery, it gets better every year, the technology and quality rises, and the costs drop. Why, because they have posted pricing and compete against one another in a transparent marketplace.

Shopping for any doctor, any specialist, any test, any imaging, any procedure by code, making it as easy as reserving a flight or hotel with transparent pricing is "The Key" to fixing healthcare costs in this country once and for all.

a reply to: infolurker

That's a great idea. I've read that in Cuba, part of the reasons health care is cheap (and doctors aren't fabulously wealthy) is because there are so many doctors. It's a regular job, there. (That might be the only benefit of half a century of a communist dictator.)

I don't think the high priests of American medicine are going to give up their mystique any time soon, and they're practically holy to both Republicans and Democrats. That would have to be started by a populist movement, or funded by a tycoon like Carnegie.

Thanks look2thesacredheart for replying with your personal opinions. Twas a fun game. Ask movie or music questions. Im better at those.

1. What are your thoughts on pollution and the environment? What, if anything, should be done about it?
I passed my tests on that sh** in the 60s and 70s

2. Are large corporations trustworthy?
Only as far as you cab throw em

3. What should the role of public lands be?
In Federal or State Law , there are no Public Lands

4. Do you care about organic food? Why or why not?
Yes.

5. What is an ideal health care system?
Anything but what we have now ?

6. Is "Buy Local" worthwhile?
Always.

7. How much education do you consider necessary for a decent living?
Education or Wisdom ? That is the question. Some folks have a lot of education but the lights are on and no one is at home.

1. I don't care about carbon specifically, i care about it all. Im less worried about carbon than mercury and arsenic. More carbon = more trees = more oxygen = bigger animals and plants to close the carbon cycle and lock it away again. But mercury and arsenic, along with other chemicals, aren't so easy to deal with. Not to mention the radiation

2. No. Not at all. We already are forced into labor in order to pay the taxes necessary to be alive. Corporations will make it worse

3. Public use, unless those lands were a gift from someone, then their agreement would supercede public use

4. No, because its a scam. What i care about is food grown without pesticides and small local growers rather than corporatized growth. That is tecnically "organic", but 'organic" is a scam label for "ugly produce".

5. One where its accessible to everyone, and where cost was not a consideration for managing your care. Only effectiveness.

6. Yes. I buy Texas first, US second as a rule of life.

7. Whatever is needed to do the job. I don't have a lot of education, and do well. Thankfully.


Im not much of a conservative socially. But im a fiscal conservative.

1. What are your thoughts on pollution and the environment? What, if anything, should be done about it?

I'm into conservation, not preservation. Most of the envirowhackos are preservationists who want to put shrink wrap over the area and put it off limits so no one can enjoy it. Most sportsmen and hunters lean more conservative. Believe it or not, they are extremely interested in responsible husbandry and land stewardship. They have no wish to see the animals they enjoy go extinct, so they a vested interest in responsible practices like eating what they take or catch and release and helping to preserve the environments their game lives in. Ducks Unlimited is a good example of an org. that sportsmen heavily support because it invests in and helps manage wildlife habitat.

We tend to believe there is a way to balance what we need with conservation. And it's a myth that we believe in wholesale dumping or things of that nature.

2. Are large corporations trustworthy?

I'd say it depends on the corporation. Just like with countries and their governments, each corporation is a different large entity with a different culture and practices. Some will be honorable and interested in long-term customer satisfaction believing that is the way to remain viable over time while others are going to care more for maximizing profit at any cost.

It's our role as consumers to do our due diligence just like we should at election time and know what we're getting in any transaction. Buyer beware is still the mantra of the day.

3. What should the role of public lands be?

There are a few places that are special enough to be deemed national treasures (Yosemite, Yellowstone, etc.). They ought to be placed into national parks.

However, I question the need for the federal government to own over 50% of some western states. Is the western desert so special it ought to be made into federal land? And I absolutely disagree with some of the pretexts that are used to put some lands under federal control to become "public" land, too.

4. Do you care about organic food? Why or why not?

No. I don't necessarily think organic means better. If I'm hitting the farmers' market where all the food is locally grown, then I'm pretty happy with it whether it's organic or not.

5. What is an ideal health care system?

The ideal health care system is one where people recognize that, as a skilled service, health care is not and never will be free. Therefore, we should have a system where people pay for their care. What we need is a system where insurance stops paying for most things so that the services are priced into the pockets of the average consumer again instead of into the pockets of the insurance company and government.

The middlemen have created market distortions that help to keep the prices of even routine care prohibitively high.

There is a role for insurance, but it should be limited to policies that cover catastrophic care and chronic care instead of routine care.

As for drug costs, the problem is more global there. The pharmas are all global companies, and the same market distortions that the government and insurance companies create on the national level for medical procedures play a role there too, but it's global. Every country that has socialized care bargains down and undercuts the drug prices to get those special low cost drugs for their citizens. They pay less, but the extra ends up getting foisted on countries that don't do that ... like the US. It's not fair, and it's a global distortion this time. Our prices end up subsidizing the prices everywhere else.

I'm not sure how you solve that, but the answer isn't to institute price controls here. The actual cost of producing new medications does need to be met. The burden should be shared equally.

6. Is "Buy Local" worthwhile?

If the product is worthwhile, sure. When I set out to make an important purchase, I investigate all my options. If it turns out that the best choice is the local one, I'll buy that, but if the local one doesn't measure up, I'll go with what best meets my needs.

In other words, I don't just buy local or buy organic or whatever to make some kind of statement or virtue signal. I buy what best meets my needs. That doesn't mean I am going to simply buy the cheapest option. Frequently, I end up with something mid-range, honestly, because I'm trying to balance quality with cost effectiveness and the cheapest option is usually not the best way to go, but I'd be lying if I said I never look at things like local v. foreign too.

7. How much education do you consider necessary for a decent living?

It depends on what the individual in question considers a "decent" living. I have a cousin who never went beyond high school. He's a truck driver who sidelines auto restoration and detailing. He has a generous piece of ground in the country and has his boat and camper, ATVs, nice house that he had built, etc. He and his wife and family are doing just fine.

I also have an uncle who pitched in with some guys fresh out of the military when Silicon Valley was just starting. They got a little startup off the ground, had something to do with the laser scanners they use in grocery stores and everywhere else these days. He easily made several million off that with just a high school education, retired early, got bored and went back to work as a higher up in Apple - that Apple. Now he's in his second retirement and living in Hawaii.

So I also think it rather matters less how much education you have as it does how much ambition you have to make something of yourself. There are plenty of examples of people who do quite well with as little as a high school education and lets of drive.

Yes, there are some things that will demand a college level education, but if you have the ambition, you will find a way for it.

Lots of loaded questions. Here is my attempt to deconstruct.

1. What are your thoughts on pollution and the environment? What, if anything, should be done about it?

Depends on the definition of pollution. Carbon dioxide is a pollutant according to the 2016 EPA, for example.. which is ludicrous.

Anyways. No one wants garbage floating in the water or cluttering the sides of roads. No one wants an animal getting tangled up in soda can rings, etc. From 1970 to 2000 the EPA did a good job cleaning up 90% of the problems. We have cleaner air than we did then. That's good enough for me. Punish the blatant dumpers, but realize that we have to get a little dirty to maintain a vibrant economy and manufacturing sector.

If a product or service comes along that is cleaner and also quality, the consumer will respond.

I support green energy initiatives, but not if the government subsidizes them. New energy sources have to be competitive for them to expand and take the place of existing sources.

However, one place I would like to see the government promote renewables would be with NASA and space exploration. I'd love to see a base on the moon. There is no oil up there and we aren't shipping any up the gravity well. That would be the perfect stepping stone to stress test out the 'green energies' before we expand to Mars, the Belt, and onward.


2. Are large corporations trustworthy?

That depends, what do you trust them to do? I trust them to promote their own self interest and market viability. I trust them to want to make their customer base happy so they can keep making money. I trust them to create jobs where it supports their budget.


3. What should the role of public lands be?

I support some public land controls in truly one-of-a-kind places, but it should be open for the public and research. Locking down hundreds of acres from the public to protect an owl or turtle is not that important to me. That should be for the individual states to deal with.


4. Do you care about organic food? Why or why not?

What I care about is does it taste good and is it affordable? Beyond that it seems like a marketing gimmick to exploit people who want to feel superior to their neighbor.


5. What is an ideal health care system?

I'm all for true single-payer, ie the customer pays the doctor. There was a time when we didn't have insurance and the patient worked out the details with the doctor. This was a tried and true system starting with nomadic tribes and their shaman/medicine man all the way to about the 1940's.

I have car insurance, but I don't use it for an oil change or new tires. I have home insurance, but i don't use it to repair my fence or paint the walls. Those types of insurance cover an accident or catastrophic event. This is how health insurance should work too, in my opinion.

Think about medical procedures that don't normally take insurance: plastic surgery and vision correction. 10 years ago those procedures were much more expensive and less precise than they are now. Market forces brought the prices down but the quality improved. The same would happen with regular health care.


6. Is "Buy Local" worthwhile?

If it's good quality and the price isn't too steep, sure.


7. How much education do you consider necessary for a decent living?

Depends on your definition of decent living. I know a lot of union workers at my place of work who have a high school diploma and two houses, new cars, etc. My company trains them for what is needed. They show up with basic literacy, the ability to lift 50lbs, the ability to follow directions and play nice with others. My company takes care of the rest.

Meanwhile I have a college degree and I'm still paying off student loans, my mortgage, and a used car. But Ketsuko and I have two high-quality home built computers and a rambunctious 6 year old, we're pretty happy.