# Letter To The Dope **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 14, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286 "2017-07-14T22:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/121 "2017-07-16T20:30:25Z")
> [@](#): > > …Barry Goldwater, who said, “We can disagree without being disagreeable” would be appalled at the number of "conservatives who view being disagreeable or worse as a side benefit of their position. William F. Buckley, who gave the eulogy for the liberal lion Allard Lowenstein, would be spinning in his grave… Its at least in part because the intellectual underpinnings of conservative ideology have collapsed. Case in point, the disastrous consequences of “socialized medicine”…inevitable and certain. But the jury isn’t out on that, its been tried, and works pretty well, considering. Done badly, it fails, done carefully, it works. What matters is how it is done, not what ideology it represents. As a human being, I am content that Ol’ Bill was a decent sort of fellow. As an intellectual leader, he was an elitist snot. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/122 "2017-07-16T20:34:59Z")
How the board has changed: Years ago, it took me 2-3 HOURS to get through all the threads of interest. The question was: “Is there anything I can say which will rise to the level of these posts?” Now? About 5 minutes to go through GQ, GD, IMHO, MPSIMS, and the PIT. The question being “Is there anything in here worth my response?” Almost always, the answer is “No.”. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/123 "2017-07-16T20:42:00Z")
We are not worthy. Here’s your hat. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/124 "2017-07-16T20:46:21Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > How the board has changed: > > Years ago, it took me 2-3 HOURS to get through all the threads of interest. > The question was: “Is there anything I can say which will rise to the level of these posts?” > > Now? > About 5 minutes to go through GQ, GD, IMHO, MPSIMS, and the PIT. > The question being “Is there anything in here worth my response?” > Almost always, the answer is “No.”. Wow, then how do you account for all the time you still seem to spend here? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/125 "2017-07-16T21:04:41Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > About 5 minutes to go through GQ, GD, IMHO, MPSIMS, and the PIT. > The question being “Is there anything in here worth my response?” > Almost always, the answer is “No.”. In such cases, you just have to come up with more [efficient responses (and attitude towards)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=3acaKw7r4qE) threads such as this. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/126 "2017-07-16T21:10:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > What else can solve the problems? Capitalism, without government regulation, leads to the rich controlling everything, and poor people can’t get what they need. Altruism is great, but it lacks any incentive to continue. If you aren’t altruistic, then you won’t be. As you say. The entire purpose of Government is to regulate society for the common good. To do things that we cannot do, or do them better than private enterprise. Yes, the Government CAN do things better than private enterprise. Do you want privately run sewers? Do you think rural America got electricity and phones by the good will and profit motive of private enterprise? Did private enterprise build the Interstate Highway System or the Internet? How were the poor and elderly doing before Social Security? The idea that Government is incompetent and cannot do things as well as private enterprise is Corporatist Propaganda, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/127 "2017-07-16T21:21:38Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > As a human being, I am content that Ol’ Bill was a decent sort of fellow. As an intellectual leader, he was an elitist snot. Typical Yalie inferiority projection. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/128 "2017-07-16T21:26:12Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > How the board has changed: > > Years ago, it took me 2-3 HOURS to get through all the threads of interest. > The question was: “Is there anything I can say which will rise to the level of these posts?” > > Now? > About 5 minutes to go through GQ, GD, IMHO, MPSIMS, and the PIT. > The question being “Is there anything in here worth my response?” > Almost always, the answer is “No.”. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a post by you that was worth reading. So if you’re making fewer posts, that alone raises the quality of the boards. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/129 "2017-07-16T22:29:05Z")
**Colibri** , the big meanie-head moderator! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/130 "2017-07-16T22:54:43Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > **Colibri** , the big meanie-head moderator! Bite me.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/131 "2017-07-16T23:06:58Z")
The smiley makes it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/132 "2017-07-19T15:33:27Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Conservatives will always be vulnerable to moral grand-standing by progressives, lefties, liberals, moderates, moderate libertarians or whatever the ultra-statists wish to call themselves. This is because they have largely bought into the idea that the progressives et al. have the moral high ground. They believe that egalitarianism is a good idea, but not practical. They believe government can and should sculpt society into an ideal form, but their form is maybe a little different. They believe government should end sin and deliver salvation. These beliefs are foundational to today’s politics, at least to 95% of the politically aware. > > The progressives et al. know that calling you a racist is effective. They know that appealing to your desire for equality or homogeneity is effective. They know they can browbeat you all day long I find it quicker and easier to just call them fucking idiots. Cuz they generally are. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/133 "2017-07-19T22:55:37Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Perhaps someone might take my earlier post as evidence of belief on my part that conservatives are terrible people. Most of them are not, most of them are not even bad people. However, the term “conservative” has, in my opinion, been effectively hijacked by some people who are not merely bad, nor even merely terrible, but whom are utterly reprehensible. And too many people who should have known better have allowed themselves to be swept up in that, QED. > > Barry Goldwater, who said, “We can disagree without being disagreeable” would be appalled at the number of "conservatives who view being disagreeable or worse as a side benefit of their position. William F. Buckley, who gave the eulogy for the liberal lion Allard Lowenstein, would be spinning in his grave. Buckley was the guy who hijacked conservatism to begin with. He explicitly endorsed a domestic totalitarian state and turned conservatives into supporters of overseas adventurism, or more accurately made it ok for supporters of adventurism to call themselves conservatives. His greatest success was probably the destruction of true conservatism. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/134 "2017-07-19T23:33:59Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Buckley was the guy who hijacked conservatism to begin with. He explicitly endorsed a domestic totalitarian state and turned conservatives into supporters of overseas adventurism, or more accurately made it ok for supporters of adventurism to call themselves conservatives. His greatest success was probably the destruction of true conservatism. How strong could it have been by then if one man could destroy it by being allied w/ it? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/135 "2017-07-20T00:18:32Z")
I guess you can claim that conservatives are morally pure as long as you basically remove all the people who have created modern conservatism. But then I’m not sure you’re not talking about something else entirely. I will say it seems like special pleading to ignore the bad parts of conservatism but act like the bad parts of modern liberalism are just what liberalism is. Liberalism is ultimately just about equality and fairness, based on empathy for the downtrodden. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/136 "2017-07-20T00:21:26Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I don’t know about **Sam Stone** , as I rarely see him saying much. Meh. I learned awhile ago that if I talked about education and teacher unions with him, he’d inevitably steer the conversation to how I was a whiner and should just suck it up. He’s not worth the blood pressure, so I might read him on other issues, but I won’t engage his douchiness on that issue. Other than that, he’s worth reading, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/137 "2017-07-20T00:27:49Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Other than that, he’s worth reading, IMO. Well, I don’t mean I have him on ignore or anything. I just mean I rarely see his stuff, and can’t remember the last time I’ve seen anyone insult him in the Pit. When it comes to **Bricker** , I do see his stuff, and I do see why people get frustrated and/or angry at him. I really wish there was a rule in GD that you have to just state your position and your reasoning in a straightforward manner. But I learned, what, 8 years ago now that this was not what everyone else wanted. I’d coped with it, but recent political events have led me to be more irritated by it again. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/138 "2017-07-20T19:47:28Z")
Anyone who wants to leave, should just shut up and leave. It’s that simple. GTFO :smack: ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/139 "2017-07-20T20:45:17Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I can’t say I’ve ever seen a post by you that was worth reading. So if you’re making fewer posts, that alone raises the quality of the boards. Bye ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286/140 "2017-07-20T20:53:12Z")
The door is the thing with the knob on it, similar to your neck. Here’s your hat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-to-the-dope/791286.md?page=8)