The misappropiation of conservativism in the United States

Posted by JeanPaulZodeaux 12 years, 2 months ago to Politics
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In the United States today the so called "conservative" movement is rooted in the conservation of religious beliefs and "traditional values", but this is a pointless use of the term conservative and only serves to confuse political issues. The only thing worth conserving in the U.S. is the Constitution for the United States of America and its Bill of Rights. When viewed from that scope, then we understand that the "liberal" is one who is taking a liberal view of that Constitution where the "conservative" is attempting to maintain the integrity of that Constitution and its purpose.

The same problem has happened with the use of the terms "left" and "right". Traditionally "left" is considered to be egalitarian and "right" hierarchical. However, today we have a left that dismisses the notion of unalienable rights and champions "civil rights", which are legal rights. The left claims to be about "equal rights" but has no regard for the right to ownership of property, among other rights. The individual who advocates the right to ownership of property becomes lazily characterized as "right" for no other reason than the Marxist's have hijacked the "left" and claimed it as their own. Anyone who rejects Marxism is, in their view, necessarily "right".

Tragically, too many people accept this contradiction and make no bother to check the premise. The result is a constant creation of new labels. To distinguish oneself from the new "left" and "liberalism" those advocating unalienable rights call themselves "libertarians" and before you know it the Marxists are now creating newer terms such as "libertarian socialism" "anarcho libertarian" and on and on and on.

A conservative should not, in U.S. politics, be someone who has no regards for unalienable rights any more than a liberal should be viewed that way, and yet we have a two party system that insists on this strange dichotomy when neither party shows any regard for the unalienable rights of the individual.


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  • Posted by PriMe 12 years, 2 months ago
    Well put. On the left hand, they take your money/rights by force. On the right hand, they are doing the same. This seems to leaving the USA, well, disarmed!
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    • Posted by 12 years, 2 months ago
      While Matthew 6:3; "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" alludes to charitable giving, the expression today is more commonly said never let the left hand know what the right hand is doing, and has come to mean that we should learn to keep our varied interests separate. That both the so called "left" and the so called "right" know precisely what each are doing is the stuff of conspiracy and who've they conspired against should be of great concern.

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      • Posted by DR_BRETT 12 years, 2 months ago
        My hands are always in my own control .
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        • Posted by 12 years, 2 months ago
          Perhaps I need to clarify what I was getting at by citing Matthew 6:3 and its modern bastardization. It is important to keep separate the interests of a nation. Any government should exist to protect the rights of the individual but rarely does any government fulfill this mandate. Instead, even when separate branches are established to prevent collusion, conspiracy happens. When the people tolerate this conspiracy of government then the left hand knows what the right hand is doing which only facilitates the natural tendency of government to aggregate power. Chinese walls need to be made to keep this from happening. In any collective, it is wise to keep the left hand from knowing what the right hand is up to. Individually it is foolish to not know what your hands are doing.

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  • Posted by DR_BRETT 12 years, 2 months ago
    For those who do NOT know the precise definition of their own words -- they literally do not know what they're saying .
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    • Posted by 12 years, 2 months ago
      Many do not know what they are saying even when they know the precise definition of the word. I am astounded at how many people say "you can't have your cake and eat it too". Surely most who are saying this know the precise definition of each word and yet can't seem to recognize the absurd contradiction of their remark. I will get pedantic with them and point out that there is no reason to have cake if you can't eat it and if one is going to eat cake they must have it first. Few tolerate the pedant and most will roll their eyes and declare "You know what I mean!" Of course, they mean you can't eat your cake and have it too, which is to say that nature works in a certain way and once one action is completed consequences follow. But what they are actually saying is that one cannot enjoy what they have, and they don't even realize this is what they are saying.

      While I disagree with Heidegger that we do not speak language but language speaks us, I disagree in that it is insane to invent language only to have it turn around and invent us, but Heidegger's observation is true of far too many people.

      It is not enough to know the precise definition of words. We must understand the meaning of that definition and we must pay close attention to how we use those words.

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  • Posted by Signofthedollar 12 years, 2 months ago
    Agreed. Unfortunately, the U.S. has moved very far away from unalienable rights almost to point where they cannot be recovered. I hope you are only talking about "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness". As far as I am concerned those are the only unalienable rights. For the most part life is still intact. Liberty has been shot to hell and as result the pursuit of happiness is difficult.

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    • Posted by 12 years, 2 months ago
      I am talking about all unalienable rights. Liberty is too vague to qualify as a singular right and the pursuit of happiness even vaguer still.

      Recently the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared that there is no fundamental right to sleep outdoors. Is that right? Never mind the fact that long before there were governments there were people sleeping outdoors and doing so by right...unalienable right, the real question in regards to a higher court ruling bound by a federal Constitution is where did the 11th Circuit find the lawful authority to make such a determination? Given the 9th Amendment, of course they don't and the 11th Circuit acted criminally in making this determination.

      The right to speech is an unalienable right. No government regardless of what their constitution may say, has the authority to grant such a right and make it a civil right, it is an unalienable right. The infant doesn't first check with First Amendment before crying to make sure it has the right to do so, that infant instinctively understands he or she has the right to cry.

      Ever enumerated right in the Bill of Rights is an unalienable right not granted by that Constitution but instead is written in express language that is clearly prohibiting the federal government from trampling on these rights and the 9th Amendment makes it perfectly clear that all enumerated rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage any other rights retained by the people.

      It is self evident what rights are. Because all people have the right to life, it follows they have the right to defend that life. Because all people have the right to property they have the right to defend that property and individuals certainly have the right to defend others in need in that defense. In this narrow scope of understanding, the right to force only exists in relation to the defense of certain rights. Outside of this, what any individual does that causes no harm they do by right...unalienable right.

      Liberty has been shot to hell because far too many people have fallen prey to the sacred cow of "civil rights". Civil rights are legal rights and what can be granted legally can be taken away legally. Unalienable rights cannot be taken away. This is the very definition of unalienable. There is no need to recover any unalienable rights only a need to assert them, jealously guard them and zealously protect them.

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      • Posted by Signofthedollar 12 years, 2 months ago
        Ok, Life is as you say. Liberty is very definable, it is the right to property. That simple. The pursuit of happiness is the unfettered right to do as you see fit as long as you do not violate the unalienable rights of others. So you got them all.

        Sorry but look around you liberty is being taken away, or given away, try and assert property rights today and you will lose your property and your freedom in certain circumstances.
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        • Posted by 12 years, 2 months ago
          Before Jefferson made the "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" assertion, there was John Locke who had phrased it differently. In Two Treatise of Government Locke argues that government exists to protect property. He defines this property as "life, liberty and estate", so it is not as simple as you assert. Life is no doubt property and if it weren't liberty would be meaningless. You are the owner of your life. This is self evident.

          Liberty cannot be "taken away" but can certainly be trampled upon. If liberty were "taken" someone is "surrendering" it. I will not accept that others have surrendered my liberty on my behalf and I will never surrender my liberty. I would argue you should not either.

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