Are conservatives conservative because they are unhappy or

[Iris]

are does being conservative make you unhappy?

I ask because I think there are 2 kinds of conservatives. People who start out liberal or moderate and become conservative as their lives get miserable. They look for someone else to blame, and conservativism makes it appear that if only "the (insert whatever group is being villified) weren't getting (insert whatever "benefit" it is believed the villified group is getting), then I wouldn't have to pay so many taxes, work so hard, blah, blah, blah and I would be happy."

Then there are people who have always been conservatives. They believe in following the rules and not straying from whatever they are told is the norm. I think they are just miserable because they are too afraid to get try something different. These people use terms like, "I was always taught. . ." or "I was raised to believe. . ." - even when these beliefs or ideas have proven to be wrong or inaccurate.

Either way, I find many self-proclaimed conservatives to be downright mean, mostly because they are unhappy.

[Kip Rainville]

1. Who have you met in the conservative realm ?

With out self control based on something outside yourself there can be no reasonable society. That is surely one of the tenets that conservatives abide by. I thought liberals understood this as well, as I do. Kip Rainville

[rogerashton]

2. Hello, Kip.

Do you have any evidence Conservatives believe in following the rules? All the evidence I have seen suggests to me that they are egotheists.

rogerashton

[Kip Rainville]

7. A foundation for a society

Hello Roger Ashton -

I think it is clear they believe they should - how well they do it is another question. But at least they, and so should we, believe in a base out side our self or there is chaos. I guess this world is getting there. KR

[leesa]

8. BS. Then why are we being lied to on a daily basis by conservatives?

Why are they usurping the constitution? Why are they undermining the courts and the legislative process? Why do they persist in violating nearly every one of the ten commandments as often as possible? They believe in forcing people to their beliefs and perversions. It is control they want not decent society.

[jbm]

9. kip...

and I say this as gently as I can...but the belief that self-control must come from something outside ones self is the basis for conservatism. Liberal world views evolve from the assumption that self-control exists within the individual.

on edit...maybe I misread your post. Are you saying that's what you believe? or that's what conservatives believe? If you're saying that's what conservatives believe..I agree with you!

[StClone]

3. I am close to two Big Cons

One was a hippy turned Conservative/Libertarian the other was from Mexico that sucked on the teat of America for his education and has always hated the USA until Rush showed him the "Right side" of American Politics. The first is depressed the second is pyschotic and I guess happy in his own FOXed-up world.

[fla nocount]

4. They're unhappy because they cannot dream of growth and change.

Tomorrow will be as yesterday. Same blanket, same pillow, same didy, same sugar-tit. Sounds pretty grim doesn't it.

[jbutsz]

5. Like Neo before he took the red pill..

Deep down they know the "dream" they've been sold is an illusion, not consciously though (yet). The powers that be sell them the idea that they are privilaged, that they are 'part of the club' because they "own" their own home and two SUVs and their kids are not in prison yet. These are the middle-class conservatives, and they are the guardians of revolution (as Howard Zinn puts it) because they form a buffer between the rich/corporate/political powers and the 'rabble' that are 'too dangerous/stupid to govern themselves'.

It'll take widespread economic ruin to snap them out of thier conservative dream. Until then nothing much will change except the reigns among the ruler's hands.

[jbm]

6. real conservatives...

(as opposed to people who happen to vote republican or listen to too much Rush) are conservative because of their world view..and their world view is dependent on how they define the nature of mankind. They believe that people are inherently bad,and that societies survive by imposing strict religious and moral codes to keep us 'artificially good'.

Liberals believe that people have the ability within themselves to choose good,and that the majority generally WILL choose good.

If these definitions are true(and I honestly believe that they are) then it provides a little insight into the possible nature of conservatives,and I doubt that their nature allows them much happiness.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. They're unhappy because they feel inadequate

They need to have more than others because they feel inadequate.
That's also why they don't like competition.
It's also why they don't like others having fun.
It's often aided by religion: waiting for the Sky Daddy to pat them on the head.
It's an inherent feeling of having been cheated that gnaws at them, and causes them to need for others to be thwarted too.
It's a series of false constructs to prove their superiority, when they truly know that they just don't stack up.
It's fear of change, because they know they could never get this far again on merit.
In their world of feigning ease and confidence, the aching awareness of their own inferiority corrodes them with each strutting step.

[Woodstock]

12. Those are good

The ones that run the show (the really rich) use the wannabe rich professionals, white working class, and holy rollers to get what they want by playing on their frustration and insecurity.

[durutti]

11. Two Reasons for Conservatism

As I see it, all conservatives are either a.) rich or b.) ignorant.

[Woodstock]

13. That's good, too

ignorant = willfully uninformed