I recognize that I know basically nothing about politics and, I'm not gonna lie, I read up on 'conservatism' on wikipedia and I understood about 2% of it. But maybe this post is more just about our usage of the term conserve. I guess I could also complain about the democrats use of the word liberal. But it seems that would be a topic for a different post.
So can I be a Conservationist Conservative? Or do two positives equal a negative... (or depending on who is reading this, two negatives equal a positive. Pick your flavor). Better yet if I am both of those things (which means I'm basically a democrat and a republican) do I cease to exist? Like maybe being both causes confusion in the cosmos and worlds begin colliding in catastrophe. I hope my roomates don't wake up in the morning to find my fiery remains scattered across my bedroom floor.
8 comments:
I really like this post, it has a playful approach to some deeper thoughts. As such, I have to give my insight on the issue because I love words and the history of their usage. So the word I want to talk about is the word 'liberal' the word comes from a latin root that refers to freedom. Liberals have through most of history been the guardians of personal liberty. The Republican party was a liberal party, because they were founded as an anti-slavery party where Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. The Republican party has always been the party that has sought to preserve personal libery, sometimes at the expense of other worthy causes such as the environment. In the early 1900's was when a new meaning of liberal came into being. A movement toward "social liberalism" began that postulated that personal liberty should include a new set of rights, the belief was that people should be forced toward equality. This approach usually includes taking property from the wealthy and giving it to those less fortunate. The Republican party then became the "conservative" party because they sought to conserve the old "classical liberalism" that taught that personal liberty was more important than some of the other causes. So, all that being said, yes, it is possible to desire to conserve personal liberty and also to conserve the environment. Unfortunately, those two things will at times be at odds. If a person seeks to do something that may harm the environment, do we as a society have the right to restrict their personal liberty? I don't think it's a simple yes or no answer but that is the question that arises for a "conservational conservative." And that's all I have to say about that.
So, I didn't realize my comment was that long when I wrote it. Now that I see it I feel dorky. The End.
Melissa, don't worry about Jeff's long windedness. Take it from me, you can most certainly be both! All that political mumbo-jumbo get's in the way sometimes - just be happy and do good. :)
I can't believe you didn't at least cite our conversation in your footnotes
Thanks Jeff! I didn't know all that... Now I don't have to write my post on the word 'liberal' :)
wait, you can have footnotes?
hi friend... the author of The Te of Piglet - Benjamin Hoff goes off on this topic... kind of in an ironically non-peaceful way... and Crunchy Cons... you would love this book... really... all of you would...
just tried to post it here... cant... here's the full title... check check check it out! :)
Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Roots (Paperback)
by Rod Dreher (Author)
hi.
sweet! I love book recommendations! Thanks tanya :)
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