What is the conservative ideology?

[BuyingThyme]

[TomInTib]

1. Anything I don't agree with.

It is as simple as that.

[laconicsax]

2. Defined here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/aug/13/usa.redbox

A study funded by the US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity". As if that was not enough to get Republican blood boiling, the report's four authors linked Hitler, Mussolini, Ronald Reagan and the rightwing talkshow host, Rush Limbaugh, arguing they all suffered from the same affliction.

All of them "preached a return to an idealised past and condoned inequality".

[BuyingThyme]

5. Authoritarianism, eh?

[laconicsax]

10. It's more in what they preach--the "return to an idealised past and condoned inequality."

That isn't authoritarianism.

[rasputin1952]

25. That's just about perfect, things they left out...

whining about education

dependence upon a bastardized version of Christianity, (different religions for different societies).

Praise of ignorance

Utter lack of belief in facts


I'm sure there are more, but these are enough for now...:)

[laconicsax]

31. Religion leads to the other three.

Whining about education

Utter lack of belief in facts

Praise of ignorance is the logical outcome of opposition to education and refusal to accept facts.

[rasputin1952]

32. Religion doesn't, the bastardization of religion does...

virtually every religion has a variation on the theme, "seek, and you shall find". Education is a requiremnet in virtually all religions.

The most common thing that is condemned in all religions...hypocrisy. It is also the most overlooked.

[laconicsax]

34. Religious belief puts itself at odds with facts.

To believe that the Bible written or inspired by an omniscient god, you have to either believe that an omniscient god either wrote or communicated the following to various scribes:

The universe is ~6000 years old.
Bats are birds, not mammals.
Rabbits chew their cud
Different languages come from God getting angry about people building a tower.
The sky is holding back water.
People used to live for 7-900 years.
The sun orbits the earth.
Unicorns exist, so do dragons and cockatrices.
A man was able to survive in the stomach of a fish (or whale depending on the version) for three days.
That mustard grows on trees.
That people who are mute are possessed by the devil.
Snakes can talk and eat dirt.
Thorns and thistles exist because God was mad at Adam and Eve.
If you don't circumcise the "foreskins of your heart," God will burn you to death.
God has a body.

The list goes on. Any other religion with a creation myth also requires a suspension of reality in that area.

[rasputin1952]

35. On the other hand, some of Leviticus makes perfect sense...

Wash your hands before eating
Wash utensils and dishes
Don't cheat others
(some are ludicrous, like "stone your son if he offends you

the list goes on.

The Bible is a book, but it is certainly not the ONLY book.

I never said that there were not wild things in the Bible, Koran, Book of the Dead or a million other manuscripts about religion...most of which were written by superstitious men a long time ago. Don't forget, a lot is changed in translation as well...One example is, "thous shalt not kill", which is originally written as, "thou shalt not murder".

In any case, don't be so negative...how can most people argue that seeking wisdom is a bad thing? How can most people say that forgiveness, empathy, love and understanding are bad things? I don't cheat anyone, and I don't expect others to cheat me, (I know it will happen though). I think that treating others as I would like to be treated is pretty good in the living department, even if I get the short end...perhaps the cheater will not cheat anyone else.

Lot's of religions have GOOD things, most people immediately look to the "bad" or superficial stuff. No where in the Bible does it say the age of the earth...in fact, it is stated at one point that time is essentially nothing in the grand scheme of things...a day may be a year, a year a day...or any length for that matter...see, the point is that people have bastardized all religions.

I wonder how you discuss religious things with a Hindu who believes in reincarnation, six armed goddesses that are blue, a talking elephant and a host of other items? Do you think that Christianity has a patent on what one might consider "odd"?

[laconicsax]

37. You must have missed the last sentence of my post, but either way,

All religions have wacky stuff that requires an adherent to suspend reality to believe.

Wisdom doesn't necessarily come from a book written from a time when the wheelbarrow was an emergent technology and the fact that most religions have good things to say is incidental. Since those same good things are said in the absence of religion, then it's reasonable to presume that they are not derived from religion. Do you really think that before God said to wash your hands no one had ever considered the possibility? The entire Old Testament is borrowed myths, morality tales, and historical fiction. It's true that the Bible doesn't explicitly give an age of the universe, it only states that it was created in six days, then gives a timeline of events moving forward to a point that historians acknowledge.

If you have to sort the good from the bad, then you're using an external moral basis to do so, essentially deciding which moral behaviors are indeed moral and proudly exclaiming that your morals don't come from the holy book but instead come from elsewhere. Furthermore, the notion that the reason to be a good person must come from a supernatural celestial dictatorship is frankly offensive. Millions upon millions of people extol the same virtues you do without hiding behind a bronze-age text. That should tell you something about the worth of a text that on one page says not to commit murder and on another hails a man as being virtuous for offering his virgin daughter up to a sex-crazed mob and on yet another describes how God sent a plague that killed 70,000 people because someone took a census.

The specific religion doesn't matter to me. If someone believes in something ridiculous on faith alone, then they are suspending reality to conform to ancient superstition. The overwhelming proportion of people who praise religion to me are Christian, so I use that as a common frame of reference.

[Liberal Veteran]

3. I call it cookie cutter syndrome.

The notion that we should all be just alike and accept whatever lot in life we have because new and different = scary.

[Cleita]

4. I got mine so screw you! n/t

[longship]

6. Simple... Biblical literalism.

That's the Repuke party at this time.
That's all they have left.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. A desire to go back to the past

because they fear the future.

[lazer47]

17. They don't fear their own future,, just yours,,we still have the power

to take it back...

[GarbagemanLB]

8. The opposite of liberal ideology.

[nxylas]

9. Russell Kirk's canons of conservatism

From a leading conservative thinker, written back before "conservative thinker" became an oxymoron.

http://www.kirkcenter.org/kirk/ten-principles.html

[BuyingThyme]

16. That looks like a lot of work.

The Bill of Rights thing seems to be more up my alley.

[nxylas]

46. You didn't say you wanted the Cliff notes

I thought it was conservatives who were supposed to think in soundbites?

[elocs]

11. Conservatives need to understand that the Liberal/Democratic ideology is the only valid one.

This world would be a much better place if they would only realize this and that the conservative point of view should not even be legal or allowed to be practiced. It is obvious that all conservatives and their ideology are simply evil and this country would be near perfection if Democrats had free reign to run everything. Of course Liberals would not be happy because they appear to be unable to be happy unless everything is done their way.

[mtnsnake]

12. Is this an aspect of conservative ideology?...

I often consider myself liberal minded, overall, but I think I might have a conservative bone or two, too. For example, I don't believe people should live above their means by taking loans for things they can't afford to pay for. In fact, I don't believe in taking too many loans, period, unless it's for a house or small business, which obviously very few people can have unless they do borrow for those two things. When we first started out, we drove a clunker car until we could afford to pay cash for a better car. After that, it was easy to save ahead, pay cash, save lots of money in interest over the years (and stress), and never look back. Is that conservative ideology? :shrug:

[BuyingThyme]

14. Well, if Ronald Reagan is the standard-bearer,

you're on safe ground.

[valerief]

19. Wow, you must have a guaranteed job and no fear of health worries. nt

[mtnsnake]

29. Oh no, not at all. I've been self employed for almost all my life

in a small business, and I am not free from health worries, not by any means. But I don't understand what that has to do with my personal philosophy of not buying something until I can afford to pay for it.

[Dark]

41. The primary reason for bankruptcy in the US is medical problems.

In other words, the biggest thing people cant afford is living.

I think that's what the poster above meant.

[valerief]

48. Yes, thanks.

[pscot]

13. Beggar thy neighbor

(Or was it Bugger?)

[defendandprotect]

15. STEALING .....

[valerief]

18. Gimme all your money wrapped in the flag and Jesus. nt

[santamargarita]

20. Destroying America and they're good at it

~

[polichick]

21. Supposedly, small gov't, low taxes, strong defense.

[CTLawGuy]

22. conservatism

is the idea that it is the purpose of government to preserve the natural order of society. They believe people are naturally evil and if government does not enforce social mores then society will collapse. They believe that social change is the slow deconstruction of society and will lead to eventual chaos.

Conservatives are pro-capitalism beause they believe that capitalism rewards those who work hard. Government intervention in capitalism rewards the lazy and discourages people from working hard. This is where "small government" comes in.

[happychatter]

23. it is the after the fact, rationale for unspeakably sinister actions...

...so vile, multi-million dollar think tanks and giant media organs are required to think the crap up and disseminate it at light speed...

to allay the possibility of the American people getting a stinking nose-ful of the truth

Conservative ideology is Rose scented Glade after a gnarly dump

[BuyingThyme]

24. Finding new excuses for supporting the troops'

deaths?

[happychatter]

26. good example.... or countless others

With-hold education and social services

BECAUSE

The poor are immoral.. the poor are genetically inferior... the poor you have with you always... bottom line... HATE the poor... they deserve what they get... (this is the flip side of the prosperity gospel)

Whatever it is... it's always the same... hard hearts, bad behavior, then the rationale... and that rationale, IS the "ideology"

[tabasco]

27. Allow profiteering corporations to run the government.

That's it in a nutshell.

[TheCowsCameHome]

28. Pillage and burn, then let others pay and rebuild.

[Skittles]

30. I got mine

who gives a shit if you get yours?

[mitchum]

33. Fear and loathing

[JeffR]

36. Drill, baby, drill.

[jobycom]

38. Give me your money and I'll pretend I earned it and loathe you for having none. nt

[leftofthedial]

39. what is the liberal ideology?

[BuyingThyme]

40. ..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7939792

[Donald Ian Rankin]

42. Social interventionism and economic laissez-faire.

N.T.

[opihimoimoi]

43. A PILE OF SHIT....it lost its lipstick awhile back....

[eridani]

44. Intellectual justification for sociopathology n/t

[LeftishBrit]

45. I make a distinction between 'conservative' and 'right-wing'

Conservative = In favour of status quo; against radical change, or, for extreme conservatives, any change.

Right-wing = In favour of the 'strong' in society having the right to crush the 'weak' if this is needed to achieve their own aims. At the extreme, e.g fascism, this may reach the point of actively supporting the 'strong' crushing the 'weak' as a form of Social Darwinism. The 'strong' in this context often means the 'rich', but can also often mean those strong for other reasons: the physically strong and healthy; the well-connected; those who belong to majority groups within the society; etc.

There is an association between being conservative and being right-wing, as being conservative is often based on an opposition to any attempt to get the currently strong/privileged/powerful to make any sacrifices to help 'weaker' members of the society (e.g. by increasing taxes on the rich to establish or strengthen a social safety-net). However, people can be conservative in the anti-change sense without being *extremely* right-wing (though they cannot be left-wing); and they can certainly be right-wing without being conservative. The latter are the anti-establishment right-wingers, who want to make radical changes in the existing society, in ways that would lead to changes in *who* are the strong in society, but would still permit, or even increase, oppression of the 'weak' by the 'strong'. A King of England may be replaced by a Puritan tyrant; Tsars may be replaced by Stalinist dictators; a Shah may be replaced by an Ayatollah. And if many current right-wingers had their way, current class-based societies might be replaced by more purely racist societies.

[Every Man A King]

47. Get elected anyway possible

in order to govern for the top 1%.

[Jennicut]

49. To sit on your ass and do nothing while the country goes down in flames

And also to start a couple of wars with no exit strategy. Too fleece the American people while saying God approves. Torturing, spying. Treating the little guy as crap. Being stupid. Too bad my parents vote Repub. Nice people, but they don't get that these policies are utter crap.

[OxQQme]

50. ME, ME, ME

Liberal = US, US

[opihimoimoi]

51. Therein lies the Picture...the MEism focuses on the small, the individual

Obama goes with the Larger Picture...ALL OF US...

Think Big...Get BIG

Think Small...get Sarah Palin

[AndrewP]

52. Pillage rape and plunder

[11 Bravo]

53. Fuck you, I got mine.

[TrogL]

54. indistinguishable from authoritarianism

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