Not trolling. Serious question: is there anything positive or good about being right-wing/conservative?
Its ethos seems to be “fuck y’all, I got mine”
No345
I’m struggling to find anything and could only come up with the powerful “sense of belonging” if you’re lucky enough to be one of the “in-group” that clings to the status quo. Otherwise, objectively to the outside world for civil society to function, they all are objectively evil cavemen.
Fiscal conservative and “invisible free hand of the marketplace” isn’t believable anymore.
Preventing things like fascism, communism and other authoritarian aggressors to one’s liberties.
Think of it being a check against the power of government and it’s abuses.
Or maybe the better view is think of it as Individualism Free from Oppression.*
*Does not seem to apply to 75%+ of “conservatives” after 2016
Or, in Trump’s America, “primary proponent of fascism”
Yes, which is the horrific irony of it all.
There is nothing good about “right wing.” To me, that’s an extremist of an ideology I oppose. There’s plenty good which CAN be found in “conservative,” but the only aspect of the term currently espoused in politics is of the religious & social connotation, which sucks.
Coexisting with these troglodytes is a challenge when they are our parents, our friends and our enemies.
Conservatism as a political concept or the modern iteration being played out right now?
I feel like most ‘conservatives’ are part of more of an evangelic populist movement than being ideology driven honestly.
Are we talking about traditionally conservative principles, or the modern GOP?
I was assuming traditional, because the answer to the latter is an easy one.
The good principles of traditional conservatism would be fiscal responsibility and a desire to limit government pretty.
Real conservatives? hell yes! A fundamental belief in the liberty of the individual vs the state, a deep seated commitment to free trade and economic growth as a way of reducing poverty and increasing overall wealth. An attachment if not belief in the reforming advocacy of pluralist Christianity. Finally an unwavering commitment to the root of conservatism, reason.
Conservatism is a noble tradition there are many good things about it.
Trump Republicans in 2018 though? No nothing good. They are all bigots, science denying simpletons or just plain mean spirited human beings.
2018 Republicans stand for everything against conservatism. They are not worthy of the word in anyway.
I agree with both Timex and Rod_Humble. In addition, even though I am not a conservative and don’t agree with conservative principles, I believe it is not just healthy, but necessary to have a non-liberal point of view to question and counter-balance our politics. As much as I love our God Emperor, do we really want Lightspeed Armando Uncut Unfettered Unlimited Unplugged 24/7? Although right now the two sides are not at all equivalent due to the current extremism on the right, it’s still true that the left is capable of tribalism, group think and general foolishness. So I do believe some conservative principals like (real) fiscal responsibility, questioning the extension of government power, being cautious about rapid change, and so forth, have a place as part of our politics.
The problem is, the current GOP is not a conservative party by any reasonable or historical definition.
I liked it, in years pass, when the two groups were mostly forced to work together to come up with quality work and bills. Then the GOP entered their stop everything and anything, and now full on crazy thing they do now, which has nothing to do with conservatism. I’d rather have no GOP there at all if it’s just going to continue with this anti-brown people, put women in their place, Nazis were’t so bad, spend to high even when you’re in power and bitch about debt when you’re not. Don’t need that kind of counter-balance. Get them out of there and get something else.
Everyone to the right of Rei, obviously.
I recently attended a meeting with a conservative politician. We were talking about trails and bike lanes in the city. Almost out of the blue she said “why don’t you people put more bike lanes on laneways?”.
After a pause the staff responded “well I’m not sure that alleys or laneways align with where people on bikes and pedestrians are travelling, but we have a plan developed by consultants and we can ask them if they considered it”.
Another staff person said “we can’t really add more bike lanes as we don’t have the maintenance budget, it was just cut”. (credit to him for not saying ‘cut by you’).
Councilor said “why would you need more money, laneways are already maintained!”.
“Well yes and no, if laneways were to be converted into bike lanes and paths, then the standards and requirements would change, things like snow clearance, lighting, and pothole repair. We wouldn’t have the budget”.
Councilor “well we seem to find the budget for consultants! Why isn’t that money put towards trail maintenance. They’re in terrible condition!”.
Staff “well our trail rehabilitation budget was recently cut. We have 100km of trails and we used to have the budget to do 4km per year”. That 25 year life span is too long, since they only last 10-20. But the budget was just cut in half, so now the trails need to last 50 years. It’s completely unsustainable, they’re going to get much worse, not better."
“Well why didn’t you tell us these things at budget time?! We need to know the details!”
In other words, no, there isn’t much good left. It’s just uninformed nonsense which the public somehow believes in.
What is a “laneway”?
Well, because a bike lane actually needs… space for a bike to ride. If a road is only barely wide enough for a car, then you can’t just divide it into a car lane and a bike lane, and have it work.
And doing a bike lane that way usually ends parking on the street, and not every place can handle that.