Understanding Conservatism

r0ckyreed · November 2, 2022

My goal is to make a thread dedicated to understanding the conservative worldview.

The series on When The Left Goes Too Far really inspired me to try to understand the conservative worldview objectively without bias.

What resources have helped you increase your understanding of politics? You cannot understand politics without understanding conservatism un-strawmanned.

Here are some resources I have discovered so far!

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/conservatism/

Edited November 2, 2022 by r0ckyreed

Raze · November 2, 2022

TITLE: 'The Righteous Mind': Why Liberals and Conservatives Can't Get Along

Ethan1 · November 2, 2022

Depends on how deep you're going on the topic. I mean, this infographic picture kind of gives an overview of different sides to see the dichotomy.

Beliefs
Individual
Parenting
Family
Values
Ethics
Society & culture
Economy
Government
Goals & focus

Edited November 2, 2022 by Ethan1

sholomar · November 2, 2022

For me conservatism's best points are encouraging people to be responsible and self sufficient. In general, it promotes hard work, delaying gratification, and pursuing eudimonic endeavors. It encourages having a good attitude, not being a victim, developing skills to excel, being fiscally responsible, not overdoing it on drugs or committing crimes, and punishing offenders properly for crimes so they learn their lesson.

When I see lefties I tend to see the "reddit" lefties, the types who frequent subreddits like "antiwork" ... they think that a society that pays people to not work and ensures they have a basic comfortable life without having to contribute would actually work, when it would not. They are pining, depressed, always trying to change things "out there" to fix their lives when the real work occurs internally and mentally. Giving these people handouts won't help them grow. They need to be educated, guided, mentored...

Things I like about the left... being environmentally responsible, wanting basic universal healthcare, promoting equality and non-discrimination. In general I support abortion rights and I'm mixed on the war on drugs... drug use destroys cultures. It just does. However, I tend to not want to take away people's rights either. There's a lot to respect in both political parties.. though the republicans would be a better party of they were more fiscally conservative and socially moderate. I don't understand their abortion obsession. I mean I do, but it's an issue they need to drop. The average republican voter doesn't care if abortion is banned or not. I personally don't care what people do with their bodies once they hit 18.

Edited November 2, 2022 by sholomar

aurum · November 4, 2022

Good thread idea.

It’s important to make a distinction here between UNDERSTANDING and AGREEING.

I can understand without necessarily agreeing, or agreeing with some portion of what was said. Which is what is needed for healthy political dialogue.

Edited November 4, 2022 by aurum

r0ckyreed · November 7, 2022

On 11/4/2022 at 0:45 AM, aurum said:

Good thread idea.

It’s important to make a distinction here between UNDERSTANDING and AGREEING.

I can understand without necessarily agreeing, or agreeing with some portion of what was said. Which is what is needed for healthy political dialogue.

Amen. That’s my attitude as well! My overarching goal is aiming for the highest understanding possible!

Raze · November 21, 2022

DocWatts · November 21, 2022

On 11/1/2022 at 11:57 PM, Raze said:

TITLE: 'The Righteous Mind': Why Liberals and Conservatives Can't Get Along

Beat me to it! Reading the book of the same title right now, and would highly recommend it. The descriptive approach of Social psychology is a very useful framework for gaining insight on the particular moral intuitions behind the various the Spiral Stages (which in the context of Haidt's book are Blue, Orange, and Green). The important takeaway being that different survival contexts cultivate particular moral intuitions, oh which our stated moral preferences tend to be post-hoc justifications.

Moral intuitions which prioritize purity and a social hierarchy where everyone has their assigned role make good sense for the difficult survival challenges faced by the sorts of ethnically and culturally homogeneous communities which have been the norm throughout most of recorded history. It can become a huge problem though when these moral intuitions have to be integrated into the types of ethnically and culturally diverse societies that we happen to be living in today.

Edited November 21, 2022 by DocWatts