# Why have conservatives left this message board? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [April 14, 2025, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016 "2025-04-14T01:14:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/101 "2025-04-14T18:01:36Z")
I wouldn’t joke about a thing like that. 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/102 "2025-04-14T18:02:08Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > A blind squirrel might find a nut now and then, but that doesn’t mean you should forget that it’s blind. Nominating this for Straight Dope Quote of 2025 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/103 "2025-04-14T18:02:57Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > Are you two still at it? > > I’m done with it. Got him on iggy so I don’t even see his replies. That works for _me_! ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/104 "2025-04-14T18:04:02Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Huh. Would you mind sharing what are some of the “far left” positions you espouse? On economic issues, I’m very Bernie-AOC-ish, if anything, I feel Bernie and AOC actually _don’t go far enough_. UBI, universal healthcare, high taxes of the rich, high minimum wage, salary cap for employers (i.e., the highest-paid employee cannot make more than 100x the lowest-paid,) environmentalism, cheap-but-not-free college, prison reform, justice reform, more generous unemployment insurance, Social Security, etc. I would also like to see the Second Amendment repealed and nearly all private guns confiscated. On social issues, though, I’m still very much on the right. Affirmative action, DEI, transgender views, political correctness, strong national defense, etc. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/105 "2025-04-14T18:06:05Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > aware of the rest of **Der\_Tris’s** posting history One peeve with **Der** is that the bar to say they failed in their predictions is so basic (“I haven’t been exterminated and the nukes didn’t fly!”) there’d be no satisfaction in it. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/106 "2025-04-14T18:07:15Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > Huh. Would you mind sharing what are some of the “far left” positions you espouse? > > On economic issues, I’m very Bernie-AOC-ish, if anything, I feel Bernie and AOC actually _don’t go far enough_. UBI, universal healthcare, high taxes of the rich, high minimum wage, salary cap for employers (i.e., the highest-paid employee cannot make more than 100x the lowest-paid,) environmentalism, cheap-but-not-free college, more generous unemployment insurance, Social Security, etc. I would also like to see the Second Amendment repealed and nearly all private guns confiscated. I maintain that none of those issues is legitimately characterized as “far left.” ETA: And since it’s _me_ maintaining it, you know it _has_ to be correct. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/107 "2025-04-14T18:08:50Z")
Is “far left” Stalin-ish gulags or Cultural Revolution reeducation camps, then? I’m not being sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/108 "2025-04-14T18:11:10Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Is “far Ieft” Stalin-ish gulags or Cultural Revolution reeducation camps, then? I’m not being sarcastic. YES! (That’s not a comprehensive list of the prerequisites, btw.) And I’m not being sarcastic either. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/109 "2025-04-14T18:13:17Z")
At the very least collectivization of the Means of Production, I suppose. Social Democracy is not far left anywhere… except in USA elective politics. But let’s gather our wits and get back on track, people, the question was supposed to be about what happened to conservatives, not about whether or not those of us remaining here would get along better with Trotsky. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/110 "2025-04-14T18:17:19Z")
OK. Well, then, to sum it up: 1. The conservatives turned into liberals or at least unaffiliated 2. The conservatives became tired of being heavily outnumbered ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/111 "2025-04-14T18:23:15Z")
The conservative posting habit is to: - Make stuff up, without any cites - Troll liberals I maintain that what’s being politely termed as being “fatigued from being in the minority” is better described as “fatigued by the effort of striving to be factual and not acting like an asshole, and/or pointing out that lots of posters are just as bad as me.” To be fair there’s also the fact that with the board skewing liberal, their misbehaviors (probably) get called out for moderation more frequently. However I’d suggest that the easy way to get around that is by making the very minimal effort of not being an asshole, and not making shit up. But that’s not the kind of discussion they enjoy. They really prefer stepping on toes and then pointing out that everybody else steps on toes too and claim that if you can’t police everyone for stepping on toes, then nobody should be policed for it, and we should just tolerate an environment where everyone steps on toes, and if that’s not what you want, then that’s anti-conservative persecution. Anyway, nothing of value has been lost here. Prior to the Trump years I’d have been the first to argue that liberalism benefits from a healthy counterbalance of ideas. But in the era of Trump, this idea no longer obtains. Conservatism equals Republicanism which equals Trumpism. That faction has taken off the mask, there’s no value in pretending there’s a good-faith merit-based conversation to be had. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/112 "2025-04-14T18:24:17Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > OK. Well, then, to sum it up: > > 1. The conservatives turned into liberals or at least unaffiliated > 2. The conservatives became tired of being heavily outnumbered OK, then. ☮ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/113 "2025-04-14T18:31:10Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > The tl;dr version would be decrying onerous taxes and regulations, but also favoring abortion rights and legalization of weed, religious freedom, trans rights. See, I would’ve thought the libertarian position on trans rights would be, if someone tells you that they identify as female, you shrug and say, “well, that’s your right,” and if someone else says “but I believe that person is male,” you shrug and say “well, that’s your right.” Would that fit? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/114 "2025-04-14T18:33:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I maintain that none of those issues is legitimately characterized as “far left.” UBI is pretty far-left. Confiscating guns is a bizarre one for me. Normally dictatorships are anti-gun so the citizens cannot rise up in revolt so I wouldn’t normally say it is either left or right but we in the USA are so used to left = gun control; right = is hitting your target that I guess complete gun confiscation is far left. But then again, the far right is anti-Bill-of-Rights so wouldn’t that be a MAGA position? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/115 "2025-04-14T18:35:49Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Prior to the Trump years I’d have been the first to argue that liberalism benefits from a healthy counterbalance of ideas. I think that this board has a healthy diversity of ideas. We might not notice it as much because most posters here are not jerks and we can have interesting discussions without being acrimonious. The “problem” is that people who call themselves conservative don’t have ideas–they only have partisan dogma. Anyone who is willing to engage in ideas has already stepped away from the right wing. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/116 "2025-04-14T18:36:58Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > See, I would’ve thought the libertarian position on trans rights would be, if someone tells you that they identify as female, you shrug and say, “well, that’s your right,” and if someone else says “but I believe that person is male,” you shrug and say “well, that’s your right.” > > Would that fit? No. The person is who they are along the gender/sex spectrum. Other saying they are not is anti-libertarianism and they do not have a right to use their view against the person. Libertarianism (at least as I view it) is the rights of one person cannot interfere with the rights of another. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/117 "2025-04-14T18:49:45Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > I maintain that none of those issues is legitimately characterized as “far left.” > > UBI is pretty far-left. > Confiscating guns is a bizarre one for me. Normally dictatorships are anti-gun so the citizens cannot rise up in revolt so I wouldn’t normally say it is either left or right but we in the USA are so used to left = gun control; right = is hitting your target that I guess complete gun confiscation is far left. Then allow me to amend my response: I maintain that none of those issues is legitimately characterized as both “far left” and “generally advocated by a statistically significant number of progressives.” ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/118 "2025-04-14T19:01:33Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I maintain that none of those issues is legitimately characterized as both “far left” and “generally advocated by a statistically significant number of progressives.” Simply put, some on the left = gun control gun control ≠ The Left ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/119 "2025-04-14T19:04:21Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Simply put, > some on the left = gun control > gun control ≠ The Left Right, must avoid the pitfall of the “expectation of unanimity”/“if you are for A you must be for B thru Z” debate phenomenon I mentioned before. > [@Pleonast](#): > > I think that this board has a healthy diversity of ideas. We might not notice it as much because most posters here are not jerks and we can have interesting discussions without being acrimonious. > > The “problem” is that people who call themselves conservative … can be calling themselves “conservative” in a manner similar to how self-described “Nice Guys™” call themselves nice guys. And whine about it just as much when you tell them they’re full of it. Seriously in many issues I have been frustrated by trying to get people on the Right to explain to me “exactly what are you trying to _ **conserve** _?” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/120 "2025-04-14T19:39:26Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I think he (he/him, right?) is great, and I certainly agree with his political positions 90%+ of the time. I’m male, yes. > [@Atamasama](#): > > That list reflects the Democratic Party today a lot more than Republicans. Correct. I consider the Democrats to be the _actual_ “small ‘c’ conservative” party. The Republicans are radical reactionaries, fascists and just plain lunatics. But they’ve so thoroughly managed to identify the conservative “brand” for themselves that pointing out that the Democrats are the actual conservatives just confuses the issue under most circumstances. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Confiscating guns is a bizarre one for me. Normally dictatorships are anti-gun so the citizens cannot rise up in revolt so I wouldn’t normally say it is either left or right but we in the USA are so used to left = gun control; right = is hitting your target that I guess complete gun confiscation is far left. That’s a myth; many dictators like Saddam Hussein don’t care about citizens owning guns, and it doesn’t help the people rebel. Organization is what matters, not guns; a mob loses to an army, guns or not. Gun control was instituted by the Americans when they took over because of America’s gun obsession, not by Saddam. > [@Velocity](#): > > Is “far left” Stalin-ish gulags or Cultural Revolution reeducation camps, then? I’m not being sarcastic. More or less, given that “far” is _usually_ used as a synonym for “authoritarian”. Because that’s really the distinguishing feature of those regimes; not the extremity of their beliefs, but that they are willing to enforce those beliefs ruthlessly. I know leftists who are at least as extreme and irrational in their beliefs, but who don’t believe in forcing them on people and are thus mostly a danger only to themselves and anyone they directly convince. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016.md?page=7)