General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsConservative is the dirty word & the root of the problem
Conservatives and their polices have caused great damage.
With the help of the conservative media. Btw, the conservative media is the vast majority of the media, not the fringe.
It's long past time that "conservative" became the label that conservatives applied to liberals... because in the reality, it's them
that have caused so much and in fact INTEND to cause harm.
We all know this. Many things are devices that the have used as means to their ends. Religion, economic policy etc etc
reformist2
(9,841 posts)And the times they are right, they are hugely valuable to society.
louis-t
(23,292 posts)I can't think of one time in the last 10 years.
MurryMom
(107 posts)Being conservative used to mean supporting a balanced budget; conserving natural resources; and a cautious approach to international relations. But not any more. So-called conservatives are radicals who oppose the 14th Amendment, want a flat tax, support wars in the Middle East, and expect drilling for oil to solve the country's energy problems.
louis-t
(23,292 posts)but only when Dem is in the WH.
themaguffin
(3,826 posts)RainDog
(28,784 posts)Conservatives in the U.S. would be considered something like fascists in other western democracies, while what is called "liberal" in the U.S. is aligned with "conservative" in other western democracies.
So, by saying we need conservatism as it exists in the U.S. means you're saying we need a fascist-minded political party here.
I entirely disagree.
Obama himself has admitted he would be considered a moderate Republican in the 1980s.
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/272957-obama-says-his-economic-policies-so-mainstream-hed-be-seen-as-moderate-republican-in-1980s
So, in this nation you have liberals and more left than liberal citizens who have a choice of voting for an ideology that aligns with Republicanism or Christofascists (because the Republican Party has been co-opted by the most IGNORANT members of this society until it really bears little to no resemblance to the Republican Party since the 1950s. In the 1950s, the President of this nation, a Republican, was more open to govt. investment than some Democrats, and more than any Republican.
This nation has a long, long history of flirtation with fascism.
That's not a political stance I want to see represented in the U.S.
On the other hand, it's impossible for an actual liberal to win the nomination for a democrat because of this ignorant, knee-jerk, fundamentalist stupidity that is supported in this nation by the politicians who cater to them and who are complicit in making this nation an embarrassment.
This nation is more liberal than either party realizes, and certainly more than either party governs.
http://www.democracyjournal.org/arguments/2013/09/politicians-think-american-voters-are-more-conservative-than-they-really-are.php
What is more, the mistakes legislators make tend to fall in one direction, giving U.S. politics a rightward tilt compared to what most voters say they want. As the following figures show, legislators usually believe their constituents are more conservative than they actually are. Our attitude measurements are most accurate on the questions about same sex marriage and universal health insurance and in both instances the legislators guesses about their constituents views were 15-20 percent more conservative, on average, than the true public support for same-sex marriage or universal health care present in their districts.
Our study also found that politicians dont learn in the normal course of events. After November 2012, we posed the same questions again to some candidates. Even after conducting campaigns and seeing the results, politicians did not arrive at more accurate perceptions of constituent viewsnot even those who had spent more time talking to voters. Much remains to be learned about why U.S. legislators think constituents are more conservative than they truly are, but researchers have found that politically active citizens tend to be wealthier and more conservative than others. Politicians who want to represent all the people in their districts need to keep this in mind.
Just another way our government is not really representative of its citizens at all.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)RainDog
(28,784 posts)at least not as they are currently defined.
If Obama represents conservatism for this nation, what voice to liberals have in this nation - when we are the majority of the population, when Republicans have gerrymandered voting districts to give them seats in the House - even when they do not represent the majority opinion - and this in the political body that is supposed to be most responsive to the will of the voter?
We have a simulacrum of representative democracy, but not actual representative democracy.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)The people you are calling conservatives are not conservative. They are reactionaries, lunatics, and worse.
RainDog
(28,784 posts)and the Democrats who are on the conservative end of the spectrum can represent conservatism, then those who are more liberal will be able to form a party in opposition to non-freakin-insane Talibornagains and the pols who love them...
...okay, we're in agreement! lol
Frankly, the current Republican Party seems like a political vestigial organ that is of no use to modern politics but sometimes sends the body politic to the emergency room when they infect the political discourse.