L4sBotThere's no such thing as a conservative intellectual — only apologists for right-wing power
NightwingdragonThis is incorrect.
There is a such thing as a “conservative intellectual”. It’s just that they’ve been long since drowned out by the rest of the party, and the right-wing voting base has no appetite for actual, sensible conservative policies right now.
Name one conservative policy that has furthered mankind. Prohibition, voting rights, sexuality, drug war, terrorism; time after time they’ve been wrong. Even fiscally they run up the deficit. Their only role is to preserve hierarchy and maintain power
Intellectualism is not an inherently moral thing. One can be an amoral, selfish, narcissistic, intellectual.
I didn’t mean to give the impression that it is a moral issue. I consider it from a populist societal perspective. The majority (liberalism)wanting to do one thing, and the minority (conservatives) preventing progress. If conservatives had it their way, we’d still have feudalism… oh wait.
I mean, that's also taking an "us vs them" mentality that isn't helpful either. The middle ground is where the vast majority of people sit, and often swing to one side or another based on the situation surrounding them. Taking a "If you're not with me, you're against me" stance, just puts those people off. Either they just refuse to engage (which is a big factor in lack of participation in voting in the US) or they move towards the people who are willing to pander them. More often than not the conservatives.
Problem is human rights have become the giant center of it all, and it IS if you’re not with me you’re against me. There’s no fence from where I stand because stripping rights to play games can’t be an option. All these bills being passed with no legs just to keep fires alive. I say this from a safe state, I’m white, born straight, all the simple stuff. I try not to be off-putting - but “I’m a fiscal conservative and a social democrat” is a cop-out these days
I almost deleted all this lol but I may as well post. I find all that you’ve written thoughtful. I’ve stayed out of politics for the past few months because it’s was all just been too much these past 6 or 7 years…and it’s about to get awful again. I think I’m glad I’m off Reddit for politics season. There were good discussions there, but I think there will be more to get out of it here
Anyway, thanks for your replies