The top ten reasons why liberals are better than conservatives:
10) Liberals prefer to be sensitive to the issues of various groups of people, while Conservatives deride sensitivity as “political correctness.” (”Macaca,” anyone?)
9) Conservatives prefer cutting taxes on the wealthy even if it creates deficits. Liberals believe in paying for what you spend.
8) Conservatives prefer to thumb their noses at the rest of the world. Liberals remember that America is the leader of a community of nations.
7) Conservatives prefer to shoot first and ask questions later. Liberals prefer to ponder the long-term consequences of their actions before using force.
6) Conservatism cares most about what is best for the individual, and is therefore inherently a selfish philosophy. Liberalism cares most about what’s best for society and the environment as a whole.
5) Conservatives prefer to prey on the environment for the sake of industry. Liberals understand that without a healthy planet and environment there can BE no industry.
4) Conservatives want to legislate morality to other people who may not share their views. Liberals prefer to live and let live.
3) Conservatives believe that majority rules. Liberals understand that the Bill of Rights was crafted to protect minorities from the predations of majorities.
2) For conservatives, religion and politics are like bread and butter. For liberals, they are like oil and water.
And the top reason in my mind why conservatism is backwards and Luddite:
1) Conservatives prefer looking to the past for guidance on solving today’s problems. Liberals understand that times change and often require new approaches to problems not envisioned by our forefathers.
I also can’t help but toss in one last one for the sake of humor:
0.5) Have you ever known anyone “hip” who was a conservative?
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Taking a break from TV
I am completely out of original thoughts today. Plus, I need to get back to my Veronica Mars first-season marathon, so that I can hopefully finish the second season before the new season starts up on October 3. So, I'm just going to post this nifty thing I found at Centerblue.org:
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8 comments:
You should blog about Veronica Mars as you watch. It would be fun for the rest of us to see it through fresh eyes. Both seasons are terrific. Enjoy!
I'm going to link your post- that's great!
P.J. O'Rourke? Well, he's kind of a dick but he does write for Rolling Stone. Although that publication was never really hip.
Everyone knows I love Dara and she is a wonderful person (see 0.5 below), so at the risk of losing my Cards ticket on Monday, here is a long-winded post (no conservative hot-air comments please, haha):
Whoever drafted that list does not understand political philosophy. They equivocate Bush and the Repubs in there now with conservatism. Bush and the Repubs are not running a conservative government. It offends the true conservative. I know most liberal bloggers like the person who made this list are so far out there they are barely into reality, but this person should at least try and attack the truth of the matter . . . oh yeah, liberals do not believe in truth, only relativism. Also, liberals claim conservatives are always bigoted, but is not this list stereotypical and bigoted? So, I will make my own stereotypical response to this list.
10) Really? Have you heard the things that Harry Belafonte has said? Sharpton, numerous others. This is not the sole area of “conservatives.” When a liberal is losing an argument, you know what their favorite word is . . . “racist.” And why is it that liberals believe everyone should be heard and not knock the voices speaking, but when Ann Coulter (who I do not like by the way) or some other so called conservative speak, they can interrupt their right to speak. How hypocritical! Same way with political conventions. When is the last time you saw a conservative interrupt something like that? Conservatives are just polite people who dress nice (see my nice polo outfit today) and shut their mouths to make the country work, not trying to start crap like the liberals. Though Dara did buy my baby some cool clothes. :)
9) I believe the tax system should be fair and we should hit corporations the hardest. Why make some hard working family pay a higher percentage, but some one can sit on his or her butt and not pay taxes and reap what the family sows. The bottom line is the middle class gets screwed in this country. But, #9 is an incorrect statement. A true conservative does not believe in much taxing anyway, and definitely believes in balancing the budget. Just b/c the Republican Congress and its President are making a mockery of spending what they do not have and wasting money on foreign wars does not mean that is conservative. President Bush and the Congress are not acting like conservatives. Bush Republican does not equal conservative.
8) A true conservative is isolationist, whether good or bad. A true conservative is against the war in Iraq and is not really for any war. Again, I think this list is equivocating conservatives with Bush Republicanism, which just shows the list’s ignorance. But, if a liberal can not see the ineptness of the United Nations, then I do not know what they are looking at.
7) Completely untrue. See #8. I sound repetitive, but maybe this poll should be why “liberals” are better than Bush and Congress.
6) Untrue again. A true conservative believes in the goodness of people to help each other and has a skepticism for government to help people. See Katrina. Government on all levels failed, but I was a part of the goodness of charities, churches, synagogues who were actually helping people and getting things done, though we did not have the money the government has because they have power to tax the daylight out of us. Liberals believe that a big old bureaucratic government paying welfare money to people who sit on their butts is fine. A conservative believes in helping people through charities and individuals to help people out. In actuality, both want to help people out, it is just how they go about it: government or individuals.
5) Somewhat agree with this one. I am a conservative but usually side with the environmentalist on stuff like this.
4) Fair enough. But . . . where does “live and let live” stop? Child molestation? If there is no “morality,” which liberals don’t believe in anyway, where does it stop? I would rather have some one rule me with a moral conviction of right and wrong, which is a conservative, as opposed to someone who goes with the flow just for anarchist sake. If we don’t legislate morality, then is drugs, murder, rape wrong? We become an anarchy without laws and we have to legislate somehow. Yes, I am using hyperbole here, but #4 on this list was a complete overgeneralization that one can take to the extreme.
3) BUT, the minority is not always right. And this assumes that liberals are correct on the Bill of Rights and that liberal judges are always right. And I think if things were different, that is liberals were in the majority on an issue and conservatives were in the minority, you could switch that comment around.
2) True, though that is not always a bad thing (I agree it can be sometimes – you know I do not like the religious right). But those who seek the truth and believe they have found it through scholarship and experience, their religion is a part of them. Conservatives believe in religious freedom and religion is some people’s worldview on how to legislate what is right or wrong, which we do have to do as I rambled on about in #4.
1) If we don’t understand our past, we don’t understand the future. And even if times change, who says liberals are right? And where does forward looking stop? That is a slippery slope that could lead to danger. However, I agree conservatives need to get their heads out of their asses and move forward on some issues (like abstinence only in schools – pass out condoms!)
I also can’t help but toss in one last one for the sake of humor:
0.5) Have you ever known anyone “hip” who was a conservative?
This is somewhat true , which is why I have a lot of liberal friends. But there are some real dorks who are liberals as well and some quite cool people who are conservative. I know that one was being funny and not bigoted, so I’ll laugh along with that one. But hopefully Dara does not think I am completely unhip (bumblebee costume notwithstanding) – I have seen some of your liberal friends, haha!
Your loving conservative (which is not what Bush and the Repub Congress is about) friend,
Bo (who now needs to get back to work)
Pagan: I am completely loving Veronica Mars! My brother bought me the first season for my birthday some months ago, and now I can't believe that I waited so long!
Jason: Negating your own argument is never a good strategy.
Here's Wikipedia's list of allegedly Republican Celebrities. Can't say that I would agree that any of them are really hip. Maybe Vince Vaughn, but now that I know he's a Republican, I'm not that impressed anymore.
Bo: I think you do a good job of discussing true Conservatism, but as we've discussed at length before, they're no longer running your party -- and it doesn't look like it's going to revert back anytime soon.
Dara,
I am afraid you may be correct. At first I was peeved at what I felt was an overgeneralization of the list (I agree morality should not be overlegislated, but technically passing a law saying murder is wrong is legislating morality – semantics I know), but as I was writing, my anger was more toward what the Republican party had become. When George Will, Bob Novak & now Bill Buckley turn against you, something is wrong.
Bo
"Anonymous" makes a valid point. As a rule, I always think it is best to separate political philosphies like Liberalism and Conservatism from political parties. Often times, one has very little to do with the other.
As a tangential example, philosophically speaking, George W. Bush is one of the worst Conservatives in history. As someone who has ran wild deficits, spent without limits, levied tariffs, and meddled in state issues he has acted in direct conflict with his alleged views. The fact that so many in his party have stood behind him shows how little the planks in a party platform mean these days.
My $0.02.
Bo: Didn't we have that phone conversation a couple weeks ago?
Jason: Totally agree. But the Republicans, such as they are, started the name game, attempting to demonize and marginalize the Democrats by calling them "liberal."
Isn't W hip? Wait, I'm sorry, I thought it said...a pip!
Fear and Loathing - The Gonzo Papers
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