hi respectable conservative, i’m fest
anyway everyone has a different meaning for “conservative” so can you explain your views in politics?
Honestly, I’d abandon the label of conservative at this point and just broadly define yourself as a liberal. It’s what separates the “traditional conservatives” that didn’t stand with Trump from the now fascists who did; they value the system of liberal democracy that this country was founded on. They wanted conservative policy, but through democratic means, whereas fascists favor winning by any means necessary.
Granted, I also don’t respect liberals very much, as they refuse to sacrifice capitalism to maintain their own system, but being a liberal is what separates non-fascist “conservatives” from fascists. As conservatism is hierarchical, it’s very easy for it to leave liberalism behind.
There were some 800.000 Germans arrested for “resistance activities” during WW2, and tens of thousands were executed for it.
Now, I’m not saying those were all good people, but there were at least some good Germans. But terrifyingly few.
i really wanna ask some questions, genuinely in good faith as it seems you may misunderstand how politics affects real peoples lives.
would you be friends with them if they were racist, just not around you?
would you be friends with them if they were queerphobic, just not around you?
would you be friends with them if they voted for, and supported, politicians willing and ready to take away your rights or the rights of others?
why would you want to interact with someone who disagrees with peoples rights to live?
this is assuming you are a member of some minority (queer, of color, etc.) if you arent, then i guess i understand.
This is a revamping of the meme about gay people that was complaining about looking colorful, caring about LGBTQ rights, mentioning their partners in conversation the same way straight people do, and maybe having a lisp? It’s thankfully been a long time since I saw it.
You’re right, but I don’t think the OP actually means it, they’re just trying to flip the script on conservatives. I’m not the OP though, so I could be wrong
Condemning and alienating people who are on the wrong side of an arbitrary ideological line, or are labelled as something undesirable, and offering no reconciliation is only good for two things: further pushing them into their existing convictions, and presenting yourself and like-minded people as the enemy. Being a human is far too complex to evaluate a person’s worth based on such simplistic views.
I don’t think Rossmann gives a rat’s ass about what you think of him nor that harsh words would sway him, but if you are ready to condemn and oppose him for identifying as a conservative, you are also saying, in effect, that the consumer rights activism he and his employer have done is not enough for you.
JerryRigEverything builds offroad wheelchairs. He also owns a Cybertruck as part of his business. Admiral James Watkins was a devout catholic and conservative officer in the US Navy. He also advocated for military personnel with AIDS under his command and strongly opposed politicians that labelled the disease as an act of God. Reducing a person’s worth to just one harmful thing necessitates ignoring the good they’ve done.
Changing your opinion about someone does not necessitate condemning and alienating them. As I stated, “conservative” is not a clear term, so it doesn’t make sense to form an opinion based on that, which I think is the arbitrary line you’re talking about. Specific views, such as the view that people with AIDS deserve treatment and dignity, are valid to form an opinion on.
I also don’t think rossman gives a rats ass what I think of him, but that’s true of every public figure and I still form opinions of them (as do you, given that you respect him). I am not ready to condemn and oppose him, and I don’t know whether you’re just fleshing out your statement or whether you got that from my comment, but I specified that there’s nothing to change your opinion on in this instance.
I don’t really think we disagree, based on your reply. I was intending to add nuance to your statement, by noting that it doesn’t apply universally, not to contradict it for this case.
The guy who uses mental health diagnoses as personal attacks? No, I don’t respect him
No, he’s just leaving out the politically correct bs way of speaking because it takes too long to add disclaimers to every thought you have.
It’s so much easier to say “People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder…”, than it is to say “I’m not a doctor and can’t provide a medical diagnosis, but in my experience, people who typically express traits which are commonly associated with Narcissistic Personality Disorder…”
hell, those more reasonable conservatives might be worth a 5 minute talk. i’ve seen people who vote conservative for purely economic reasons and never really thought about the whole killing minorities thing, and when i explained it to them they reconsidered
though to be clear, that’s where i’m from. you cannot make the same argument for trump voters
I said it before: those people are not conservative. They don’t want to conserve anything, they don’t want to caution against change or are stuck in their old ways.
Those people are reactionaries who want to return to a past that never really was, and fascists who think a strong leader will hurt the right people.
Don’t allow them to mask as moderates of any color. Don’t accept that being racist, sexist, corrupt and proudly admitting to be it are moderate, sensible, acceptable positions instead of radical extremist ones.
right now the coalition is deciding whether or not to continue its trajectory towards trumpist alt right politics or realign itself as a centre right party.
this is not something that is just going away.
Yet the Australian people firmly rejected that Trumpism, and the Liberal party, which is who I was referring too, seem to be keen to push towards the centre under Sussan Ley.
The likelihood that we get a Trump style, fascist government that ignores the rule of law and the courts is infinitesimally small, especially with our mandatory and preferential voting system. The Coalition are awful, but to call them fascist is to water down the term until it has no meaning.
Edit: The one caveat I’ll add is Jacinta Price defecting to the Liberals but it’s not like the rest of the party had a choice in that matter, and I think they will grow increasingly frustrated with her if she repeats her Trumpist clowning during the next election.
These worries about increasing political polarization seem reasonable on the surface, but political polarization is only a symptom of underlying problems. If you want to worry about polarization itself, the demand must be equally applied to both extremes.
If no shared values and boundaries are agreed to, there’s nothing to stop one party from pushing the window of acceptable ideas to favor their own clan. As one side takes a step forward towards reconciliation, the other can shift the entire conversation in their favor by simply taking a step back. Complaining about the two sides drifting farther apart as a problem in itself only hurts the side less willing to further radicalize themselves.
I don’t know Australian politics, but I do know that most liberal democracies are only a step away from fascism. Some like the UK are already doomed. This is because unchecked capitalism breeds increasing wealth inequality, shrinking wages and opportunities, and causing an increase in people wanting to fundamentally change society in some way. Fascists offer easy answers in the death of liberalism, as many liberal politicians are unable to deliver or even promise substantial change.
The only way to preserve liberal democracy (the rule of law, civil liberties, a social contract) is to protect the working class from capitalism. Even if you think we need capitalism and can never live without it, capitalism causes societal instability by redistributing wealth from workers to the wealthy. Unless the state and workers can limit or reverse this trend, it will destroy the system by making people believe it can never serve them. Liberal democracy is incompatible with unchecked capitalism for this reason.
Just because American conservatives are Nazis now doesn’t mean that all conservatives everywhere are as well
They believe all the same stuff, they just know they can not yet bring it out in public.
You’re right that they wouldn’t try to overturn an election but it is only because they can’t get away with it, not because they actually respect any law other than “fuck you I’ve you mine”.
And your attitude of complacency is what makes it so that Australia will also become like the USA - you’re not special somehow, this is happening everywhere.
Being realistic =/= Complacency
We aren’t special, but we do have mandatory and preferential voting, which is fairly rare the world over, and that absolutely affects the outcomes of our elections. Mandatory voting has a far bigger effect than most realise on curbing extremism. I’m just so exhausted from American doomers trying to pretend the entire* rest of the world is heading the same direction so they don’t feel as bad about the fluffed state of their nation…
Someone else mentioned the UK and it’s the same FPTP, low voter turnout problem as the US. You know who’s actually special? New Zealand with their Mixed Member Proportional. I’ll give you a thousand dollars if they ever turn fascist!