Conservatives are incapable of defending freedom.
Conservatism is a reactionary movement that started with the French Revolution. In the left/right paradigm of the French Revolution, the progressive left sought social change while the reactionary right's sought to preserve the social order.
The partisan split between left and right consumed the French people and the country sank into genocide.
Hegelian and Marxian dialectics institutionalized the left/right split.
In modern America, Conservatives stand for preserving the social order that evolved in the United States.
Conservatives in Russia defend the social order established during the Soviet Union.
Conservatives in the Middle East wage Jihad against the west in order to preserve the social order of traditional Islam.
Yes, Conservatives in a country founded on liberty like liberty, but conservatism is not inherently a philosophy of freedom. The Conservatives during the US Revolution were called Tories. They actively fought against every single one of the ideas Conservatives claim as their own today.
Because reactionary conservatives depend upon reaction rather than reason, they have a nasty habit of presenting ideas in the negative.
Yes, the Founders created a limited government. The founders realized that the state was a limiting force on the actions of the people. Limiting government removed limits on the people.
The argument for liberty is an argument for an unlimited people.
Conservatives care first and foremost about preserving the social order. The conservative ideology now has constraints on both the government and the people, dramatically restricting the ability of people to grow and prosper.
I've been trying to argue for health freedom in the most conservative state of Utah for over three decades. Conservatives treat advocates of freedom as pariahs.
Even worse, since Conservatives dominate the freedom movement in America, loud mouth conservatives systematically undermine efforts to defend freedom.
Conservatives actively oppose Health Freedom. Conservatives see big insurance and big heath care monopolies as means for preserving the social order.
Look around you. Conservatives have been spouting "liberty" rhetoric for over a half century. Despite all of this shrill noise, we have systematically lost our freedom.
Because Conservatives are interested first and foremost in preserving the social order, they systematically fail to pass legislation that enhances freedom. The Republican Party is simply the party that passes statist legislation at a slower rate than the Democrats.
Conservatives are simply a lesser evil than the social progressives. As long as politics is dominated by the false dichotomy of the Progressive/Conservative split of the French Revolution, we will simply see the freedoms won by the Founding Fathers gradually slip away.
2 comments:
I am assuming you are at least 55 years old because your definition of conservative is very, very old school. I haven't heard this definition of conservative since I was in a child back in the early 80s. This definition of conservative fell out of favor even among conservatives at least twenty years ago.
For example, conservatives support charter schools, vouchers and increased use of technology in instruction (online schools), but that is hardly preserving our past or social order. Charter schools, vouchers and technology are disruptive, hardly preserving social order. Conservatives also support merit pay, a hugely disruptive policy. (I use "disruptive" positively here)
Conservatives generally support a national sales tax or a flat tax, neither of which is based on historical precedent or tradition.
These are just some examples. There are others to be found in transportation, income security programs and other areas.
You can accuse all political movements of inconsistency and not living up to their own ideas, but your definition of conservativism needs to be updated.
Sounds like you are a moral relativist who holds that definitions change as the ruling class sublates terminology.
Conservatives play a fun game where they encourage freedom rhetoric when they are out of power and pursue statist policies when they are in power.
Conservatives shove aside anyone who suggests an actual free market reform. I know. Utah Conservatives have slammed the door in my face more times that I can count for proposing health freedom.
This game of left, right and center has dominated politics since the French Revolution.
Conservatives are a mirror image of the progressives. We will not break free from this process that systematically chokes liberty until people recognize the ruse for what it is.
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