4 ms·

No, that's libertarianism. Libertarianism and conservatism often overlap, especially in the US (which has a long tradition of limited gov't to conserve), but ar

No, that's libertarianism. Libertarianism and conservatism often overlap, especially in the US (which has a long tradition of limited gov't to conserve), but are not the same thing. As a self-identified conservative, if I had to give as short a summary as possible of what it means to me: we (US, other developed nations) have a pretty good thing going. The least well off 10% here live better lives than the top 10% of a large number of places. That didn't happen by magic or accident, it happened because the people who preceded ud, over centuries of history, made some very good choices. We should figure out what they did right, and then keep doing it.

yau8edq12i 3y ago
> The least well off 10% here live better lives than the top 10% of a large number of places. You're absolutely blind if you think that. Tell me, in what place do the top 10% live worse life than the bottom 10% in the USA? Keep in mind, the bottom decile of income in the USA is $10k/year - think about how a person that earns that lives.
- Georgelemental 3y ago
  > the bottom decile of income in the USA is $10k/year That's before taxes and transfers. It's much more than that once you account for them. Meanwhile, around 50% of the world's households make less than $10,000/yr: https://news.gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-median-household-income-000.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-median-househo...
  - yau8edq12i 3y ago
    1. Now try to figure out how well people can live on $10k a year in most places. 2. We're talking about comparing with the top 10%. Try to follow the context before replying.
YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
>> We should figure out what they did right, and then keep doing it. Slavery, settler colonialism modulo a bit of indigenous genocide, toppling democracies and supporting dictators all over the place, exploiting the natural world until it cried "mommy" and then keeping at it until we now have a gigantic environmental and climate crisis, and let's not forget investing more than anyone else on the world's most powerful military which was then used to invade agrarian societies armed with their grandparents' hand-me-down pea-shooters, and of course dropping two atom bombs and killing a couple hundred civilians in one of the worst atrocities of the worst war in history just to show who's boss. etc etc etc. Edit: as a matter of fact, the US did get something very right that everyone else keeps getting wrong: it invested in human capital by keeping its borders relatively open during at least some periods of time, so that people could keep coming in that eventually became the most dynamic sections of society. Very few others have done that, and almost nobody got it as right as the US. And yet, it is the "conservatives" today in the US that try their damnedest to kick the door shut against the windfall of human capital that keeps dropping in their lap, even as they keep outsourcing the US' most productive industries to one of its biggest competitors, China. That's not conservative, it's reactionary and completely idiotic to boot.
- Phiwise_ 3y ago
  >and of course dropping two atom bombs and killing a couple hundred civilians in one of the worst atrocities of the worst war in history just to show who's boss. It'd be helpful if you read about historical events before adopting an opinion on them: https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Pay-Operation-Downfall-Invasion/dp/1682471659 https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Pay-Operation-Downfall-Invasion/...
  - YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
    I read the blurb on the page you linked me to and I don't understand why you say that. Could you please clarify why you linked me to that book so I don't have to guess?
    - happytiger 3y ago

yau8edq12i 3y ago

> The least well off 10% here live better lives than the top 10% of a large number of places. You're absolutely blind if you think that. Tell me, in what place do the top 10% live worse life than the bottom 10% in the USA? Keep in mind, the bottom decile of income in the USA is $10k/year - think about how a person that earns that lives.

Georgelemental 3y ago
> the bottom decile of income in the USA is $10k/year That's before taxes and transfers. It's much more than that once you account for them. Meanwhile, around 50% of the world's households make less than $10,000/yr: https://news.gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-median-household-income-000.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-median-househo...
- yau8edq12i 3y ago
  1. Now try to figure out how well people can live on $10k a year in most places. 2. We're talking about comparing with the top 10%. Try to follow the context before replying.

YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago

>> We should figure out what they did right, and then keep doing it. Slavery, settler colonialism modulo a bit of indigenous genocide, toppling democracies and supporting dictators all over the place, exploiting the natural world until it cried "mommy" and then keeping at it until we now have a gigantic environmental and climate crisis, and let's not forget investing more than anyone else on the world's most powerful military which was then used to invade agrarian societies armed with their grandparents' hand-me-down pea-shooters, and of course dropping two atom bombs and killing a couple hundred civilians in one of the worst atrocities of the worst war in history just to show who's boss. etc etc etc. Edit: as a matter of fact, the US did get something very right that everyone else keeps getting wrong: it invested in human capital by keeping its borders relatively open during at least some periods of time, so that people could keep coming in that eventually became the most dynamic sections of society. Very few others have done that, and almost nobody got it as right as the US. And yet, it is the "conservatives" today in the US that try their damnedest to kick the door shut against the windfall of human capital that keeps dropping in their lap, even as they keep outsourcing the US' most productive industries to one of its biggest competitors, China. That's not conservative, it's reactionary and completely idiotic to boot.

Phiwise_ 3y ago
>and of course dropping two atom bombs and killing a couple hundred civilians in one of the worst atrocities of the worst war in history just to show who's boss. It'd be helpful if you read about historical events before adopting an opinion on them: https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Pay-Operation-Downfall-Invasion/dp/1682471659 https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Pay-Operation-Downfall-Invasion/...
- YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
  I read the blurb on the page you linked me to and I don't understand why you say that. Could you please clarify why you linked me to that book so I don't have to guess?
  - happytiger 3y ago