# Is there a site on succinct, intelligent conservative opinions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 12, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362 "2006-06-12T01:04:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362/1 "2006-06-12T01:04:44Z")

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The Liberalism FAQ has intelligent, rational arguments for liberalism and against conservatism.

[http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/LiberalFAQ.htm](http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/LiberalFAQ.htm)

Is there an equivalent of a conservative FAQ anywhere on the internet, a list of conservative arguments that are based on evidence and logic? I’m having trouble finding a conservative site that isn’t designed to preach to the choir. The Liberalism FAQ was hard enough to find.

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**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362/2 "2006-06-12T02:38:37Z")

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I’m of the opinion that no such animal exists, conservative or liberal, especially on the Internet. Spoonfeeding is spoonfeeding.

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**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362/3 "2006-06-12T04:38:34Z")

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Here’s a libertarian faq:  
[http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/libertarianism.html](http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/libertarianism.html)

Here’s another:  
[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/](http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/)

Here’s an anti-libertarian faq:  
[http://www.theworld.com/~mhuben/faq.html](http://www.theworld.com/~mhuben/faq.html)

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**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362/4 "2006-06-12T04:58:45Z")

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There’s also a website entitled “Intellectual Conservative”, which contains the following dispassionate reviews and articles:

_The Dunces of Doomsday  
Is Feminism a Mental Disorder?  
Mediocrity Reigns Supreme: Congressional hot air substitutes for energy policy  
Oh Well, Boys Will Be Girls: Essential Problems of Boys and Girls_  
To protect girls from the imagined horrors of masculinity, paranoid gender feminists are intentionally miseducating boys to become girls in all ways possible. A review of The War Against Boys.  
_Border Patrol Agents: Senator McCain Sells Us Out (Again)  
Groveling Worship of Ignorance  
Liberal Aggression and the Da Vinci Code_

They claim they are, “the only site on the web devoted exclusively to intellectual conservatism.” I believe them, but that’s just MHO. [http://www.intellectualconservative.com/index.html](http://www.intellectualconservative.com/index.html)

Here is their list of “Conservative Intellectual Icons”:  
[http://www.intellectualconservative.com/conservative-figures/](http://www.intellectualconservative.com/conservative-figures/)

George Will and Patrick Buchanan both made the cut.

They are currently reviewing the top 25 conservative books. Numbers 9-25 have been reviewed; we will have to guess what the remaining 8 will be.  
[http://www.intellectualconservative.com/bookreviews.html](http://www.intellectualconservative.com/bookreviews.html)

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**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362/5 "2006-06-12T05:14:39Z")

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This is probably too succinct. [About.com](http://About.com) has an entry entitled Conservatism 101.  
[http://usconservatives.about.com/od/theconservativephilosophy/](http://usconservatives.about.com/od/theconservativephilosophy/)

Links include:

What Conservatives are Not:  
_A little look at some misrepresentations of conservatives and conservative views - to dispel the myths and smear efforts and to set things straight._  
Conservative Values - Social  
Conservative Values - Fiscal

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**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362/6 "2006-06-12T05:22:02Z")

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> [@Wesley Clark](#):
>
> The Liberalism FAQ has intelligent, rational arguments for liberalism and against conservatism.
> 
> [http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/LiberalFAQ.htm](http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/LiberalFAQ.htm)
> 
> Is there an equivalent of a conservative FAQ anywhere on the internet, a list of conservative arguments that are based on evidence and logic? I’m having trouble finding a conservative site that isn’t designed to preach to the choir. The Liberalism FAQ was hard enough to find.

One also has to be aware of what one brings to the table. One man’s ‘argument based on evidence and logic’ is another man’s biassed argument ‘preaching to the choir’.

In other words it’s difficult to be dispassionate about these things when judging the worth of a site. For instance, as a conservative I might take issue with your description of the Liberalism FAQ site (and, in fact, a quick perusal does give me pause for doubt).

It isn’t easy to put by our own, sometimes unconscious, prejudices.

Good luck in your quest though.

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**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362/7 "2006-06-12T05:32:17Z")

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The conservative website Human Events catalogued the Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries. They included The Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf, The Kinsey Report on Human Sexuality, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, The Course of Positive Philosophy by August Compte and The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by Lord Keynes.

Runners up included On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud and Descent of Man by Charles Darwin.

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**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-site-on-succinct-intelligent-conservative-opinions/360362/8 "2006-06-12T07:38:21Z")

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> [@Wesley Clark](#):
>
> I’m having trouble finding a conservative site that isn’t designed to preach to the choir. The Liberalism FAQ was hard enough to find.

After poking around for a while on the net, I’m beginning to feel a little sympathetic.

Note though, that not all analysis falls neatly into these sorts of categories. For example, Steven Levitt usually posits definite (and controversial) conclusions, but they typically don’t fall into a neat narrative. In another thread I noted that his 5 explanations for declining US crime included the notorious link to Roe v. Wade, but also prison expansion. Furthermore, he doesn’t even take a pseudo-moderate-both-sides-have-a-point stance. He just analyses the data.

Admittedly, in my experience modern conservatives are [skeptical](http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0309.marshall.html) about the possibilities for straightforward expert analysis. Many will blanche at the next paragraph.

If you poke around the www.brookings.edu , you will find solid empirically-driven analysis. Another interesting site is [National Academy of Sciences](http://www.nationalacademies.org/).

Now admittedly, article in those sites lack the sorts of rhetorical hooks that good journalists embed in their articles. They often require a little patience and a lot of skimming. Still, these are the sorts of reports that should be read by those interested in public policy.
