Well, there’s this:
And you also might look at this.
Posted on 04/08/2008 7:02:06 AM PDT by njweave
;o)
"Hello? Anyone at home? Anyone? Heelloooooo?"
Who is that guy?
One of the principles of conservatism is LESS govt. Another is that there is no perfect solution. Ask yourself this question. Do you want the government to take care of your health? Why and why not. Ask your liberal friends also.
I have a sense, wrong perhaps, that you don't have a fully defined belief system. If true, it's more appropriate to focus on how you will live your own life before you try to think about how all of us should interact.
In my case, it includes a willingness to live by those judgments made. I grew up in a totally dysfunctional home which was also liberal. One of the childhood lessons I took away was that if someone was asking me to feel, they were trying to keep me from thinking.
It's not a coincidence, IMO, that this is the MO of the con artist. I strongly resist being manipulated emotionally because I know I'm being asked to do something I wouldn't rationally decide to do.
Decide, then, how you will live YOUR life...then you will have some basis for deciding how others ought to interact. If you choose to live by reason, the result will be much different than deciding to live by feelings.
Should you decide to live by reason, you will at some point develop a reflex to ignore, then push back against those who make feelings their highest value.
You've then taken the first step to understanding what a conservative is.
Of course, committing to a life of understanding and reason is a hard road easily abandoned. You will not accept the judgments of others at face value, not allow your mind to be shaped by the pronouncements of others. I would never presume to know about liberals what I hadn't experienced myself.
It sounds like your sum of knowledge of conservatives is second hand, based upon the opinions and observations of others. I suspect you wouldn't allow others to choose your wife or your life's work, but you've probably unwittingly allowed others to shape your beliefs and what exists of your thinking.
If you want to know about conservatives, stick around, participate and post. One ancient Greek complained about those who stood on one foot and demanded to know the sum of human knowledge, concisely presented to them. Knowledge doesn't work that way.
You'll find that we're like any other group of folks, some drifting toward the deep end of the gene pool, some to the shallow end. You'll find folks who aren't too bright and you'll find others whose minds are a marvel to witness at work. You'll find no-names and others who are famous.
You'll find that we all like a good discussion but that we don't tolerate fools...what's important isn't the belief but the quality of the discussion.
That's a part of conservatism, too...if you doubt that, go over to DU and type, "I'm a conservative and I listen to Rush." See how long your account lasts.
Doing anything worthwhile is hard work. Understanding and wisdom is not a quick process. Good luck on your quest.
I see opportunities to help bring people to the conservative way of thinking are often wasted in zots and kitty calls. It’s disappointing to see so many conservatives act like that, realizing how it looks to those who may be swayed by seeing an honest, mature answer to questions such as this.
Even if Nick is a troll, we have an opportunity to educate others who are currently liberal who may be looking for the answers we could provide here.
I am reminded of that old saying:
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day (Liberalism)
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime (Conservatism)
We're waiting...
Liberals are stuck in a state of arrested development; never attaining adulthood, being personally responsible, and accepting that others might outperform you. Hallmarks of liberalism are ingratitude and envy—ingratitude for the sacrifice of others and envy of any person of accomplishment. The liberals have a list of items they hate which speaks to these issues: This list has been approved by the DNC platform and Terry McAuliffe. The fact is, most liberals fall into one of these Demo-constituency groups, and they are motivated by a hatred for one or more of the following: patriotism, the military, American autonomy, free enterprise, the Constitution, God, Christians, the Pledge of Allegiance, white folks without NAACP cards, gun-owners, school-voucher advocates, home-schoolers, rural folks, the South, independent thinkers (especially conservative blacks), SUV-drivers, heterosexual males, anyone who threatens Leftist eco-theological idolatry, traditional marriage and families, abstinence, unborn children, entrepreneurs, small business owners, large business owners (stockholders), nuclear energy, oil exploration, global warmers, anyone who listens to talk radio, anyone advocating individual responsibility, et cetera ....
Most of all, though, they hate haters — a “hater” being defined as anyone who dares challenge their Demo-constituency agenda. They are united in their hate for George W. Bush.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.
copyright 2005-2008, ampu
Please substitute the name of our latest hairy
fellow, njweave, in the above ritual blessin’ of
the troll.
Even if Nick is a troll, we have an opportunity to educate others who are currently liberal who may be looking for the answers we could provide here.
You put it a lot more tactfully than I did. ;-)
After all my time being here, and having witnessed far too much of this type of nonsense, I'm still not sure what somebody like Nick is supposed to be trolling for in the minds of these kitty-zot folks.
Does someone set out to "troll" in hopes of garnering a collection of thoughtful conversation and helpful suggestions? Or would one be trolling for shining examples of abject idiocy?
but then who is it? i cant find answers from my liberal proffesors here and my democratic parents? I’m making an honest effort to see what i’m missing at the other end of politics. I may not be the smartest person but I’m trying to learn and open to the ideas many of you have provided
Even if Nick is a troll, we have an opportunity to educate others who are currently liberal who may be looking for the answers we could provide here.
I'm constantly amazed at the number of so-called conservatives on this site who can't answer this simple, straightforward question...Why be Conservative? teach me.
In some cases, conservatives are the best argument against becoming a conservative. I don't know if Nick is genuine or not, but it doesn't hurt me to assume he is...and it's good practice for other opportunities that present themselves.
It's a shame so many so-called conservatives blow what may be teachable moments.
First off, thanks for showing back up on the thread. The first sign of a troll is the lack of responses after throwing out a flame-worthy post and seeing how it stokes the fire.
As for learning what makes a person conservative, there’s more than few great posts on your thread here asking you to detail your answers to questions that, hopefully, give you pause as to your core beliefs and rational thought process. By that I mean, they’re trick questions. Not trick in as much as you’ll say the wrong answer and we’ll all snicker. They’re trick questions in that, rationally, you should want to answer them in a way that agrees with conservatism.
If you evaluate the Conservative and Liberal movements with an open mind, I think you’ll find Conservatism to be far more intellectually consistent across the boards. Certainly, Conservatives may disagree amongst themselves on certain issues, but generally, once you accept the concept of moral absolutes and inalienable rights, you have a consistent frame of reference from which virtually any issue, be it war, taxes, abortion, etc. might be viewed and evaluated.
Build a man a fire and he stays warm for a day.
Set a man on fire and he stays warm for the rest of his life ;-)
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