From a left-winger: What the Right has right.

[mrmazoo]

Here is what I think is correct about the conservative position:

1) The free market is the most efficient way to increase economic wealth and growth in an economy. This is pretty much an historical fact. I'm not saying it isn't possible for something better to come along, but I can't think of what it is and it hasn't been done yet in all of history afaik.

2) Less government is better than more government. I think EVERYONE would agree that if their goals could be accomplished without government involvement, that would be a better solution that to have them accomplished WITH government involvement. Now, whether or not some goals can possibly be accomplished without government is another issue.

3) People are responsible for their own actions (unless they are coerced). This is really a no-brainer. However, and I'll get to this in another thread perhaps, it is also a no-brainer that a LACK of action is also a kind of action and therefore you can be responsible for your own INACTIONS as well as your actions. The implications of this exposes one of the biggest flaws in the Right's position.

4) Charity is better than taxation. IMO, it would be better to not tax people and let them give more to charity then it is to force people to give to causes of the government's choosing. This ties into #1 above. By basically regulating charity, the government is imposing restrictions on the market.

5) Nobody is ENTITLED to a handout. If you choose not to work even though you are able, you are not ENTITLED to anything. If people want to give you money so you can continue not working, then great! However, they shouldn't be compelled to help you out, even if you are near starvation. By compelled, I mean coerced by threat.

Comments?

[ShakeZula06]

This is why I believe the conservative movement in America is dead. Altough all these are traditional conservative staces, Republicans continually legislate and execute against these things. For instance with republican majoritys in both houses, they allowed Clinton to supersized the governmnet. In less then 6 years Bush has inflated the gov't more then Clinton could have ever hoped to. Even with Republican control, taxes have no where to go but up, and entitlements are at all time highs.

I guess they allow people to be responsible for there own actions, unless they are in the high levels of gov't no matter what party they belong to (Sandy Berger).

Anybody that wants to research true conservative positions, look up speeches and writings by Barry Goldwater, Abraham Lincoln, Edmund Burke, Patrick Henry, or Thomas Jefferson. They advocate all of the OP's points.

[pvn]

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Anybody that wants to research true conservative positions, look up speeches and writings by Barry Goldwater, Abraham Lincoln, Edmund Burke, Patrick Henry, or Thomas Jefferson. They advocate all of the OP's points.

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What? Abe? The father of big government?

[ShakeZula06]

Besides believing the Union needed to stay together, and some rights he took away temporarily during the civil war, in what way was he big government?

[Randle]

Zula, wtf are you talking about?

The government grew at one of the slowest paces in recent history during Clinton's two terms. It didn't grow massively as you stated.

[ShakeZula06]

I would disagree with you but this isn't the point.

My point is that although the conservative approach is less government, people that call themselves conservatives continue to promote a Republican party that is anything but conservative in all the areas the OP stated.

[pvn]

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Besides believing the Union needed to stay together, and some rights he took away temporarily during the civil war, in what way was he big government?

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Are you serious? Ever heard of the American System? Mercantilism? Lincoln-era Republicans were directly descended from Hamiltonian Federalists.

[ShakeZula06]

Yea ur right, I was pretty offbased I suppose

[Randle]

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I would disagree with you but this isn't the point.



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You can't disagree with fact. Growing the government by 3% a year during Clinton's terms was very slow compared to the way Bush is growing it.