[Oe List ...] What do we mean by a right? To Jim, Dave, et.al. re: Conservativism

[Susan Fertig]

Wow.  Dave blew my naive expectation (not really, I mean not really an
expectation) that people of the Spirit didn't practice stereotyping.  But Ed
somewhat restored my faith (well a LITTLE bit, anyway).
 
Susan
 

  _____  

From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf
Of ed feldmanis
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 10:59 PM
To: oe at wedgeblade.net
Subject: [Oe List ...] What do we mean by a right? To Jim, Dave,et.al. re:
Conservativism


Jim,

The most eloquent modern day description that I have seen is in the book
Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater.

I have to agree with Dave as far as his description goes. Here is where I
found the problem, at least for me: Conservatives may give lip service to
these values, but they intolerantly restrict the freedoms and opportunities
they would offer people different from themselves, often valuing the freedom
of businesses more than the freedom of individuals.  

I find that statement in general to be devastatingly true and possibly
un-American. However, I don't agree that every conservative is merely giving
lip service. My own impression is that Barry Goldwater was very sincere and
specific in his book. At the point of writing the book, in my opinion, there
was some sense in that folks still wanted to make America work for everybody
and they thought they had more common ground than there is today.

For a while it, the Goldwater book, was the standard of what a conservative
was. Conservativism was tied to merit, learning,  service, pay as you go
spending, and the wide spread use of incentives before deciding to create an
agency; and, by the way, there was some sense of what is called state-craft.
If pushed beyond Goldwater to Teddy Roosevelt it was also tied to
conservation.  I think in my time this is as close to having a dynamic -
conservativism- defined in some stability. (Notice some of the liberalism
inherent in the above description.)

Where I really disagree is where many people simply call the new crowd
conservatives; for example, the crowd now in power and mostly Southerners
and their business conspirators. The label, I think, in this case, is a cop
out for the sake of convenience.  In my mind, I can not get the label of
conservative to stick on extremists or people who have neo-fascist ideas.
These are the same people who called Goldwater a liberal. And they are the
so-called conservatives of our day.  I don't buy it, but the press and then
everyone else seems to.

Ed




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