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.
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.”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
