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I'm not the most informed person out there, but I haven't seen many conservatives arguing along the specific lines you've laid out here. The conservative perspe

I'm not the most informed person out there, but I haven't seen many conservatives arguing along the specific lines you've laid out here. The conservative perspectives I've personally experienced seem to coalesce around a couple basic positions, namely that: a) The government is violating basic rights in its reaction to Covid-19, and/or b) Covid-19 is not a significant threat (and may even be a conspiracy); therefore any government reaction is excessive and unwarranted. I emphatically agree with you that deaths of despair and lack of access to healthcare are both huge problems in the US. Of course, this was clearly true long before Covid-19 existed, though, so I'm going to be a bit skeptical if I encounter conservatives suddenly championing these issues. [0] 0 - Being that, of course, American conservatives typically oppose policies meant to expand access to healthcare or provide relief to those on the economic margins of our society.

downerending 6y ago
Probably most here would label me a "conservative" (or at least, a "Conservative"), but I generally don't think about things that way. Labels are mostly useful as a pretext for ignoring someone's arguments. As for skepticism, okay, but reaching across the aisle for common ends is how political change actually happens in the real world. Preaching to the choir is worthless, except for getting re-elected.
- clawedjird 6y ago
  I'm not a big fan of political labels either. Regarding my skepticism - In the post-Gingrich era, it seems imprudent to assume that unsubstantiated political claims are being made in good faith. While I'd personally be delighted if American conservatives were to suddenly support expanding access to healthcare and implementing policies that target so-called "deaths of despair," I'll believe it when I see it at the polls. I hope that this crisis does lead to positive political change, but, for conservatives to reach across the aisle and work on expanding access to healthcare, they would first have to stop trying to reduce access to healthcare. Until we get past Covid-19, I don't think it's unreasonable to treat conservative concerns regarding access to healthcare and/or economic precarity with a bit of skepticism.
crocodiletears 6y ago
This is exactly the perspective that most on the American right in my circles are coming from. The libertarians and economic populists are far more concerned about the long-term implications of endorsing mandatory lockdowns, and contact tracing programs, as well as the effects of effectively shutting down nearly every non-restaraunt business too small to sell non-essential items. The few conservatives I know who legitimately consider reopening to be first/foremost about minimizing deaths are the kinds of conservatives who live affluent lives working desk jobs they inherited through nepotism, who only endorse the ideas of individual liberty and rights because they think it'll keep their taxes lower, and who endorsed lockdowns until they started to affect their pocketbooks.
- downerending 6y ago
  > The few conservatives I know who legitimately consider reopening to be first/foremost about minimizing deaths are the kinds of conservatives who live affluent lives working desk jobs they inherited through nepotism Wow, I must have missed that queue. As for taxes, they're screwed, for decades. I don't think it really matters which path we take--our tax load to pay for it all will be epic. At least we can try hard to save lives, though.

downerending 6y ago

Probably most here would label me a "conservative" (or at least, a "Conservative"), but I generally don't think about things that way. Labels are mostly useful as a pretext for ignoring someone's arguments. As for skepticism, okay, but reaching across the aisle for common ends is how political change actually happens in the real world. Preaching to the choir is worthless, except for getting re-elected.

clawedjird 6y ago
I'm not a big fan of political labels either. Regarding my skepticism - In the post-Gingrich era, it seems imprudent to assume that unsubstantiated political claims are being made in good faith. While I'd personally be delighted if American conservatives were to suddenly support expanding access to healthcare and implementing policies that target so-called "deaths of despair," I'll believe it when I see it at the polls. I hope that this crisis does lead to positive political change, but, for conservatives to reach across the aisle and work on expanding access to healthcare, they would first have to stop trying to reduce access to healthcare. Until we get past Covid-19, I don't think it's unreasonable to treat conservative concerns regarding access to healthcare and/or economic precarity with a bit of skepticism.

crocodiletears 6y ago

This is exactly the perspective that most on the American right in my circles are coming from. The libertarians and economic populists are far more concerned about the long-term implications of endorsing mandatory lockdowns, and contact tracing programs, as well as the effects of effectively shutting down nearly every non-restaraunt business too small to sell non-essential items. The few conservatives I know who legitimately consider reopening to be first/foremost about minimizing deaths are the kinds of conservatives who live affluent lives working desk jobs they inherited through nepotism, who only endorse the ideas of individual liberty and rights because they think it'll keep their taxes lower, and who endorsed lockdowns until they started to affect their pocketbooks.

downerending 6y ago
> The few conservatives I know who legitimately consider reopening to be first/foremost about minimizing deaths are the kinds of conservatives who live affluent lives working desk jobs they inherited through nepotism Wow, I must have missed that queue. As for taxes, they're screwed, for decades. I don't think it really matters which path we take--our tax load to pay for it all will be epic. At least we can try hard to save lives, though.