Definition of conservative

[zzzz]

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism and seek a return to the way things were. Wikipedia

How do you define conservatism? Do you think you have to support a big military to be a conservative? How about abortion? Can you be for abortion yet be a conservative? Or can you disagree on some things and still be a conservative? Can you be conservative on economic issues and a liberal on social issues?

 

[Saikron]

I agree with your quote, but following that definition closely it begs the question: what institutions are traditional?

A conservative view would have been to keep slavery (abolishing slavery would not be "minimal" as per the definition), but in today's society is anti-slavery traditional?

From my perspective slavery is a traditional institution and I am thankful we abolished it. We should keep institutions based on their merits, not because they are "traditional".

 

[LiberalNut]

How do you define conservatism?

con·serv·a·tism   /kənˈsɜrvəˌtɪzəm/ Show Spelled
[kuhn-sur-vuh-tiz-uhm] Show IPA

–noun
1. the disposition to preserve or restore what is established and traditional and to limit change.
2. the principles and practices of political conservatives.

 

[barenakedislam]

conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism and seek a return to the way things were. Wikipedia

how do you define conservatism? Do you think you have to support a big military to be a conservative? How about abortion? Can you be for abortion yet be a conservative? Or can you disagree on some things and still be a conservative? Can you be conservative on economic issues and a liberal on social issues?

yes. No. No. No. No.

 

[LiberalNut]

but in today's society is anti-slavery traditional?

That's a good point. I would answer, yes. Conservatism is always relative to time and place, as is liberalism. Take for example the notion that women should be able to drive. In Saudi Arabia, that would be considered a "liberal" position today. In America, suggesting that women shouldn't be allowed to drive would be considered so conservative as to be insane.

Today's conservatism is always yesterdays liberalism as conservatism is, in the end, conservation of the status quo.

 

[zzzz]

conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism and seek a return to the way things were. Wikipedia

how do you define conservatism? Do you think you have to support a big military to be a conservative? How about abortion? Can you be for abortion yet be a conservative? Or can you disagree on some things and still be a conservative? Can you be conservative on economic issues and a liberal on social issues?

yes. No. No. No. No.

So for you, there can be no straying from the fold on any issue? If you disagree with the conservative mandate on issues you are not a conservative?

 

[barenakedislam]

how do you define conservatism? Do you think you have to support a big military to be a conservative? How about abortion? Can you be for abortion yet be a conservative? Or can you disagree on some things and still be a conservative? Can you be conservative on economic issues and a liberal on social issues?

yes. No. No. No. No.

So for you, there can be no straying from the fold on any issue? If you disagree with the conservative mandate on issues you are not a conservative?

That's right. You can still be a Republican but not a conservative.

 

[The Infidel]

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism and seek a return to the way things were. Wikipedia

How do you define conservatism? Do you think you have to support a big military to be a conservative? How about abortion? Can you be for abortion yet be a conservative? Or can you disagree on some things and still be a conservative? Can you be conservative on economic issues and a liberal on social issues?

I support a big national defense (which is mandated in The Constitution)
I dont support abortion... for any reason. (Life is too precious)
I dont agree with all "conservatives"... we all have our own opinions.
I am conservative on all issues... social & economic

Me being a conservative is just in my genes... I have always been this way, even as a kid.
I ALWAYS took care of my toys, I was always trying to make things like my clothes and shoes last as long as possible... Hell, I hate to waste anything. Does that make me an "eco-conservative"?
I even recycled an old 86 4Runner and made it into a cool ride (no cash for clunkers)...

Yep... being conservative is just a way of life for me.

 

[rdean]

Conservative:

Anti Education

Anti government

Pro religion (Christian)

Anti gay

Anti women's rights

The vast majority of the 90% Republican Party

Home might have rims

Hates Iran

Thinks we "won" in Iraq

Doesn't know where Iran is.

Doesn't know where Iraq is.

Many think Obama is the Anti Christ

Unlikely to be a scientist

Likes and admires the "wisdom" of Sarah Palin

 

[barenakedislam]

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism and seek a return to the way things were. Wikipedia

How do you define conservatism? Do you think you have to support a big military to be a conservative? How about abortion? Can you be for abortion yet be a conservative? Or can you disagree on some things and still be a conservative? Can you be conservative on economic issues and a liberal on social issues?

I support a big national defense (which is mandated in The Constitution)
I dont support abortion... for any reason. (Life is too precious)
I dont agree with all "conservatives"... we all have our own opinions.
I am conservative on all issues... social & economic

Me being a conservative is just in my genes... I have always been this way, even as a kid.
I ALWAYS took care of my toys, I was always trying to make things like my clothes and shoes last as long as possible... Hell, I hate to waste anything. Does that make me an "eco-conservative"?
I even recycled an old 86 4Runner and made it into a cool ride (no cash for clunkers)...

Yep... being conservative is just a way of life for me.

If you were a liberal, you wouldn't have to do those things because you'd have been taught that the government will bail you out if you wreck the old stuff.

 

[rdean]

How do you define conservatism? Do you think you have to support a big military to be a conservative? How about abortion? Can you be for abortion yet be a conservative? Or can you disagree on some things and still be a conservative? Can you be conservative on economic issues and a liberal on social issues?

I support a big national defense (which is mandated in The Constitution)
I dont support abortion... for any reason. (Life is too precious)
I dont agree with all "conservatives"... we all have our own opinions.
I am conservative on all issues... social & economic

Me being a conservative is just in my genes... I have always been this way, even as a kid.
I ALWAYS took care of my toys, I was always trying to make things like my clothes and shoes last as long as possible... Hell, I hate to waste anything. Does that make me an "eco-conservative"?
I even recycled an old 86 4Runner and made it into a cool ride (no cash for clunkers)...

Yep... being conservative is just a way of life for me.

If you were a liberal, you wouldn't have to do those things because you'd have been taught that the government will bail you out if you wreck the old stuff.

If you were a liberal, you wouldn't need the government. You would have an education or be a scientist or an engineer or a doctor. Then you would be responsible for finding conservatives a job they're qualified for and having to listen to their constant whining about how bad government is.

 

[u2scram]

FROM ‘COSMOS - History of humanity's perception of the universe’
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. 2003

“The apex in the description of planetary motions during classical antiquity was reached with the Greeks, who were of course superb geometers. Like their predecessors, Greek astronomers adopted the natural picture, from the point of view of an observer on Earth, that the Earth lay motionless at the centre of a rigidly rotating celestial sphere (to which the stars were “fixed&#8221, and that the complex to-and-fro wanderings of the planets in the zodiac were to be described against this unchanging backdrop. They developed an epicyclic model that would reproduce the observed planetary motions with quite astonishing accuracy.
* * *

This model was convincing because the evidence was right in front of everybodys eyes. It could be clearly seen working on a daily basis. The evidence was so clear cut that accurate astronomical predictions could be made from the data collected. You’d have to be a fool to deny it!

Like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west; it was obviously true.

It only had one drawback. It was wrong!

Conservatives make the same error. They adhere to traditional views about politics, society etc. The evidence is right in front of everyones eyes.

Again, there is only one drawback. Its wrong!

To adhere to traditional conservative and social points of view you have to ignore most of the progress made in psychology, sociology, economics and politics over the last century.

Even science is often under attack from religious conservatives, and industrial conservatives, who seek to deny truth in favour of myth.

 

[Sunni Man]

That's right. You can still be a Republican but not a conservative.

They are known as a R.I.N.O.

 

[uscitizen]

2. the principles and practices of political conservatives

Conservatives vote Republican.

I am a fiscal conservative and a social liberal.

 

[edthecynic]

CONSERVATIVE, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.
-Ambrose Bierce

 

[edthecynic]

I am conservative on all issues... social & economic

Me being a conservative is just in my genes... I have always been this way, even as a kid.

"All conservatives are such from personal defects. They have been effeminated by position or nature, born halt and blind, through luxury of their parents, and can only, like invalids, act on the defensive."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

[edthecynic]

but in today's society is anti-slavery traditional?

That's a good point. I would answer, yes. Conservatism is always relative to time and place, as is liberalism. Take for example the notion that women should be able to drive. In Saudi Arabia, that would be considered a "liberal" position today. In America, suggesting that women shouldn't be allowed to drive would be considered so conservative as to be insane.

Today's conservatism is always yesterdays liberalism as conservatism is, in the end, conservation of the status quo.

A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead.
- Leo Rosten

 

[Baruch Menachem]

There are a host of different traditons in conservatism, and I personally lean to the concepts of limited government, with a small clearly defined role in protection of the nation from foreign states, and a restricted police power mostly concerned with theft, assault and coercion.

 

[barenakedislam]

I support a big national defense (which is mandated in The Constitution)
I dont support abortion... for any reason. (Life is too precious)
I dont agree with all "conservatives"... we all have our own opinions.
I am conservative on all issues... social & economic

Me being a conservative is just in my genes... I have always been this way, even as a kid.
I ALWAYS took care of my toys, I was always trying to make things like my clothes and shoes last as long as possible... Hell, I hate to waste anything. Does that make me an "eco-conservative"?
I even recycled an old 86 4Runner and made it into a cool ride (no cash for clunkers)...

Yep... being conservative is just a way of life for me.

If you were a liberal, you wouldn't have to do those things because you'd have been taught that the government will bail you out if you wreck the old stuff.

If you were a liberal, you wouldn't need the government. You would have an education or be a scientist or an engineer or a doctor. Then you would be responsible for finding conservatives a job they're qualified for and having to listen to their constant whining about how bad government is.

And unless Obama is shackled all of those jobs will be with the government too, just like the Soviet Union. You commies already have brainwashed all the teachers, the scientists (with the global warming farce et al). But thank God we can repeal Obama deathcare and prevent cap and tax which would destroy thousands of jobs.

 

[Kat]

yes. No. No. No. No.

So for you, there can be no straying from the fold on any issue? If you disagree with the conservative mandate on issues you are not a conservative?

That's right. You can still be a Republican but not a conservative.

Or as it is in my case, a conservative, but not a Republican. I am not a party person.
Admittedly there are no democrats I would vote for these days.