4 ms·

May I ask why?

by ctrlp 5y ago

May I ask why?

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
Conservatives have reached a place that seems devoid of reason to me. 30 years ago, I felt conservatism could compete well on ideals. Today's voter suppression and anti-protest laws show that even we don't value our ideals well enough to believe they'll win on their own merits. I've personally never been afraid of a healthy and capable opponent and never felt the need to restrain their voice or their vote. My first strong disagreement with conservatives came before 2016 tho. To me, small gov is small gov. That includes LEO, IC, etc. In the 1990s we reasonably called out FBI's heavy-handed Hostage Rescue division and while we didn't really reject authoritarianism, we didn't lust for it either. After 9/11 we did an about-face and embraced federal authoritarianism in the same way we once criticized the Left for. I still feel like the only conservative on Earth who understands that a surveillance state is the largest possible government. I held tight to conservatism after that but 2016 was the first time I ever voted for a non-R PotUS. I find Trump to be an abysmal human being who offends my principles. There's no expounding his policies because most of his output is stream-of-consciousness gibberish that can't even coalesce into a talking point. I can find nothing at all to stand by in him. I want to add that in the years before 2016 I was distressed by the growing vitriol and animosity I got from my libertarian and conservative friends. I have one childhood friend I no longer talk to because our conversations became so corrosive. Lastly: While voter suppression and anti-protest laws were my last straw, the stolen election delusion cemented it. And then all the anti-health crap showed up during Covid, which was quickly adopted by the Right - which just piled on more cement. I really haven't changed my positions much since 1990. Instead, the Right went and left me behind.
- ctrlp 5y ago
  That's an interesting perspective! IMHO, the Democratic party since the 90s has become the party of the elites. They have abandoned the middle and working class voter and made common cause with the radical academic left and the welfare dependent underclass. I see Trumpism as just the development of the Tea Party, i.e., a populist revolt against the GOP establishment. The elites are authoritarian, period. The Right/Left divide is outmoded. The new split is a class war with the middle class. I'll vote for whichever party represents their interests because I believe a strong middle class is best for the country. In 2021, it's not the Dems.

May I ask why?

by ctrlp 5y ago

May I ask why?

Conservatives have reached a place that seems devoid of reason to me. 30 years ago, I felt conservatism could compete well on ideals. Today's voter suppression and anti-protest laws show that even we don't value our ideals well enough to believe they'll win on their own merits. I've personally never been afraid of a healthy and capable opponent and never felt the need to restrain their voice or their vote. My first strong disagreement with conservatives came before 2016 tho. To me, small gov is small gov. That includes LEO, IC, etc. In the 1990s we reasonably called out FBI's heavy-handed Hostage Rescue division and while we didn't really reject authoritarianism, we didn't lust for it either. After 9/11 we did an about-face and embraced federal authoritarianism in the same way we once criticized the Left for. I still feel like the only conservative on Earth who understands that a surveillance state is the largest possible government. I held tight to conservatism after that but 2016 was the first time I ever voted for a non-R PotUS. I find Trump to be an abysmal human being who offends my principles. There's no expounding his policies because most of his output is stream-of-consciousness gibberish that can't even coalesce into a talking point. I can find nothing at all to stand by in him. I want to add that in the years before 2016 I was distressed by the growing vitriol and animosity I got from my libertarian and conservative friends. I have one childhood friend I no longer talk to because our conversations became so corrosive. Lastly: While voter suppression and anti-protest laws were my last straw, the stolen election delusion cemented it. And then all the anti-health crap showed up during Covid, which was quickly adopted by the Right - which just piled on more cement. I really haven't changed my positions much since 1990. Instead, the Right went and left me behind.

ctrlp 5y ago
That's an interesting perspective! IMHO, the Democratic party since the 90s has become the party of the elites. They have abandoned the middle and working class voter and made common cause with the radical academic left and the welfare dependent underclass. I see Trumpism as just the development of the Tea Party, i.e., a populist revolt against the GOP establishment. The elites are authoritarian, period. The Right/Left divide is outmoded. The new split is a class war with the middle class. I'll vote for whichever party represents their interests because I believe a strong middle class is best for the country. In 2021, it's not the Dems.