"Conservatives don't have to clash with reality--we know how brilliantly the human spirit can soar when man is free!"
By: 1 Million People to Defeat Barack Obama
I didn't have a problem with the picture -- ha ha, yeah liberals are a bunch of crying babies. Nor did I find anything wrong with the "clashing with reality" part.
The part that struck me was the idea that through conservatism "the human spirit can soar" as man becomes free. I had a problem with that part because I don't think conservatism is about promoting freedom. If anything, conservatism is about sacrificing individual freedom for the sake of social stability.
For example, abortion. Conservatives don't like it, and rightly so -- it's a ghastly thing. No one wins in abortion. As a matter of freedom, though, conservatives feel that it's better to limit a mother's freedom than allow her to kill the fetus. That represents a limitation (however morally justifiable) on a person's freedom.
Consider conservatism's role in the evolution of civil rights in American history. In 1860, conservatives didn't feel blacks should have citizenship. In 1919, conservatives didn't feel women should be allowed to vote. In 1966, conservatives didn't feel anti-miscegenation laws needed to be repealed.
By definition, at no point in history has a conservative felt that change was a good idea.
At this point in history, we have a new development -- the president now supports gay marriage. Conservatives don't like this, and to be very honest, I still prefer that "civil union" idea.
But I recognize that my way represents a constraint on others' freedoms. I like the idea of restricting human freedom for the sake of social stability in this respect, just like I prefer to keep the anti-bigamy laws around.
I don't have a problem with conservatism, per se -- I just want us to be real with ourselves. Conservatism is about preserving the status quo for what it perceives as the greater good. It's not about pushing for new freedoms.
So let's take that above graphic, turn it on its head, and answer a pointed question:
At what point in our history did you become conservative?
2 comments:
"That word you keep using--I do not think it means what you think it means."--Inigo Montoya, _The Princess Bride_
Words are funny things, language evolves. and contradictions abound, especially in the political realm. For instance, conservatives are rarely in agreement with conservationists. Self-proclaimed liberals enact laws squelching liberty. Members of the Democratic Party cry foul when the democratic process works against them. But let's just credit political contradictions to the politicians as a whole, shall we?
I have to disagree with your assessment/definition of conservatism. I think it would be more fair to say that conservatives see to conserve (or preserve--but we can't call them preservatives) that which they value & deem beneficial to society as a whole, which may or may not be the "status quo" at the time. Ideally, liberals would be for liberty (or freedom), and there would be areas where the two philosophies could overlap. We could end discussions with no agreement, say, "I respect your right to be wrong," with a laugh, and go our separate ways. Sadly, the need to make labels or choose sides prevails.
I haven't researched the matter historically, but these days those who identify as conservatives tend to vote Republican, and likewise liberals vote Democrat. So it's interesting to note that in your examples of "conservatism's role in...American history," the following facts: 1) The Emancipation Proclamation was enacted by a Republican President. (I realize it was largely symbolic and had little to no effect until the war was over.) 2) BOTH the 19th amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were voted for in Congress in larger percentages by Republicans than Democrats. (Although, among the states that were members of the Confederacy, both D. & R. voted overwhelmingly _against_ the Civil Rights Act.)
From a more nonpartisan assessment of the picture, one could simply say that nobody likes a crybaby. Quite possibly second only to hypocrites in deserving of criticism from any side.
Yes, I like that definition of "liberalism" and "conservatism."
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