The Conservative Principle

[Cuddles]

 

[Cuddles]

wow, what a piece of shit.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1651645370898989057

 

[Mercor]

Its a good list of cities that are mostly minority Majority

 

[piezoe]

It may good to identify what Conservatives believe. Each person may have variants but what follows is what I believe conservatism to be.

--Strict adherence to The Constitution and respect for what the founders envisioned for the country.
--Rugged individualism. Citizens are to make their own way.
--Freedom of religion and speech.
--Strong defense.
--Strong infrastructure. In fact, defense and infrastructure should be the 2 main items that the government is involved in---not social programs
--Non-progressive tax system.
--Balanced budget or surplus.
--A much smaller number of regulations. The economy works best when it is unfettered by regs. Certainly some regulations are necessary.
--Strong moral character
--Strong law enforcement and resulting correction in full for those who are working against society by committing crimes.
--Belief that Man exists at the pleasure of nature and cannot destroy the Earth. Man can only destroy Man.
--Belief in Natural Law.

There are certainly other items that can be added, but this is the general core of conservatism as I see it, and it is my contention that the majority of Americans are conservative. However, the media continually berates The Right and furthers anti-American ideas so much so that folks are reticent to agree that they are conservative.

Were it possible to reach an agreement on which particular beliefs of yours are based on factual errors, that would be a productive starting point for a useful discussion. That, however, will not be possible here.

 

[easymon1]

particular beliefs of yours are based on factual errors

Such as?

--Strict adherence to The Constitution and respect for what the founders envisioned for the country.
--Rugged individualism. Citizens are to make their own way.
--Freedom of religion and speech.
--Strong defense.
--Strong infrastructure. In fact, defense and infrastructure should be the 2 main items that the government is involved in---not social programs
--Non-progressive tax system.
--Balanced budget or surplus.
--A much smaller number of regulations. The economy works best when it is unfettered by regs. Certainly some regulations are necessary.
--Strong moral character
--Strong law enforcement and resulting correction in full for those who are working against society by committing crimes.
--Belief that Man exists at the pleasure of nature and cannot destroy the Earth. Man can only destroy Man.
--Belief in Natural Law.

It may good to identify what Conservatives believe. Each person may have variants but what follows is what I believe conservatism to be.

--Strict adherence to The Constitution and respect for what the founders envisioned for the country.
--Rugged individualism. Citizens are to make their own way.
--Freedom of religion and speech.
--Strong defense.
--Strong infrastructure. In fact, defense and infrastructure should be the 2 main items that the government is involved in---not social programs
--Non-progressive tax system.
--Balanced budget or surplus.
--A much smaller number of regulations. The economy works best when it is unfettered by regs. Certainly some regulations are necessary.
--Strong moral character
--Strong law enforcement and resulting correction in full for those who are working against society by committing crimes.
--Belief that Man exists at the pleasure of nature and cannot destroy the Earth. Man can only destroy Man.
--Belief in Natural Law.

There are certainly other items that can be added, but this is the general core of conservatism as I see it, and it is my contention that the majority of Americans are conservative. However, the media continually berates The Right and furthers anti-American ideas so much so that folks are reticent to agree that they are conservative.

 

[Bugenhagen]

From B1's list.

"Belief that Man exists at the pleasure of nature and cannot destroy the Earth. Man can only destroy Man."

This is real Rapanui stuff. All credibility lost in mumbo jumbo.

 

[easymon1]

 

[piezoe]

Such as?

--Strict adherence to The Constitution and respect for what the founders envisioned for the country.
--Rugged individualism. Citizens are to make their own way.
--Freedom of religion and speech.
--Strong defense.
--Strong infrastructure. In fact, defense and infrastructure should be the 2 main items that the government is involved in---not social programs
--Non-progressive tax system.
--Balanced budget or surplus.
--A much smaller number of regulations. The economy works best when it is unfettered by regs. Certainly some regulations are necessary.
--Strong moral character
--Strong law enforcement and resulting correction in full for those who are working against society by committing crimes.
--Belief that Man exists at the pleasure of nature and cannot destroy the Earth. Man can only destroy Man.
--Belief in Natural Law.

A lot of Buy1Sell2's list is of course just a combination of opinion and assumption. However one item stands out as a glaring factual error. It is this:

"Balanced Budget or Surplus"
​

I am not going to go into much detail here as to why this is factually wrong, because I have done that elsewhere in considerable detail. Suffice it to say here that for any modern, democratic economy running on fractional reserve banking that wants to expand in opportunity and innovation, or merely wants to avoid deflation, and assuming its population is growing, must run deficits from time to time. A persistent balancing of the budget is such economies will lead to slow starvation of the economy, hamper innovation, contract opportunity, and to the slow onset of deflation. Persistent surpluses will be far worse. Persistent Surpluses in such economies will lead to fairly rapid onset of recession and then depression!

I will add that many Americans wrongly believe what Buy1Sell1 believes with regard to government budgeting. This false belief is one of several reasons that people with fairly narrow educations and whose experience runs mainly to running businesses are, statistically, not well-qualified to lead a large complex nation such as the United States. This problem might be exemplified in the sometimes heard viewpoint, particularly likely to emanate from "conservative" businessmen, that the "Country should be run like a business." A country, such as the United States, is NOT a business!*
___________________
*On a very much related note, I cringe whenever I here a Governor's "fried chicken franchise" appointees to their State's College Board say "A university should be run just like a business". Our Nation is NOT a business, and neither is a real university or a college. The exceptions of course being the ethically challenged, for-profit "schools" that often attach the name "university" or "college" to themselves. Some institutions are businesses and ought to be run like businesses; other institutions are NOT businesses and ought not be run like businesses.

 

[piezoe]

errata in my post above:

"A persistent balancing of the budget is in such economies will lead to slow starvation of the economy, hamper innovation, contract opportunity, and to cause the slow onset of deflation."

 

[Buy1Sell2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Fraser_Tytler,_Lord_Woodhouselee
Speaking about the measure of freedom enjoyed by the people in a republic or democracy, Tytler wrote, "The people flatter themselves that they have the sovereign power. These are, in fact, words without meaning. It is true they elected governors; but how are these elections brought about? In every instance of election by the mass of a people—through the influence of those governors themselves, and by means the most opposite to a free and disinterested choice, by the basest corruption and bribery. But those governors once selected, where is the boasted freedom of the people? They must submit to their rule and control, with the same abandonment of their natural liberty, the freedom of their will, and the command of their actions, as if they were under the rule of a monarch".[17]