What's a "True Conservative"

[PondPopper]

And how many people, these days, can honestly wear this brand?? Not the "re-defined version" but the "true version".. If the defenition is what I think it is and know what it used to be, not very many.. 30-40 years ago, yes. Today not so much. All this talk about "conservatives" got me to thinking.. Conservatives, in the truest since, are few and far between.. A rapidly dying breed..

[treestand]

Here is the dictionary definition:

disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.

Politically speaking, the conservative label was originally not very flattering. It was used to mean old-fashioned, stubborn or slow to react.

[Jason]

"Conservatism means ... to conserve ... your wealth".
-D.Trump

[jerp]

The word conservative means so many different things depending on who you ask, the term has almost become unusable. It all depends on what you are trying to "conserve". As an example, those trying hold onto Communism in Russia and China are called conservatives, but American anti-communists like the John Birchers are also called conservatives. As a political philosophy I prefer the term "classical liberal". Before the term liberal meant left-leaning, being liberal meant you believed our rights pre-exist the state, and governments are created solely to protect those rights. Classic liberalism emphasizes rule of law and the freedom of individuals - in religion, speech, press and assembly. It advocates for free markets, free trade and most of all LIMITED GOVERNMENT. The theories of classic liberalism had a great influence on our founders - they thought that securing the freedom of individuals could only be possible by limiting the power of the government.

[muzzlebrake]

Go find out

http://www.gotoquiz.com/conservative_or_liberal

[Traildust]

Go find out
http://www.gotoquiz.com/conservative_or_liberal

I scored 96% on being a conservative.

I took the quiz again based on Trump's past history and it took me to Hillary Clinton's website.

[Shane]

This article describes it pretty well, while contrasting constitutional conservativism with Trumpism. It also explains why the two philosophies aren't compatible with each other.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/05/when_twos_a_crowd_conservatism_and_reactionary_trumpism_cannot_coexist_in_the_gop.html

You could come up with different labels to use to describe the two philosophies if you wanted to, but the descriptions of what they mean and how they conflict with each other is spot on.

[PondPopper]

I've always tried to keep it simple.. To me a conservatives lifestyle and actions are the opposite of liberal..
It's a hard line to draw, I know, but many of the so called "conservatives" that I know, who were pulling for a staunch conservative, live a fairly liberal lifestyle.. This is where the water gets really murky for me.. Its a real head scratcher...It's interesting to watch for sure. I see a whole lot of confusion..

[longhorn_cop]

I've always tried to keep it simple.. To me a conservatives lifestyle and actions are the opposite of liberal..
It's a hard line to draw, I know, but many of the so called "conservatives" that I know, who were pulling for a staunch conservative, live a fairly liberal lifestyle.. This is where the water gets really murky for me.. Its a real head scratcher...It's interesting to watch for sure. I see a whole lot of confusion..

Exactly. Very well said

[Landrover]

I took the quiz again based on Trump's past history and it took me to Hillary Clinton's website.

LMAO, good one! The quiz gave me the response highlighted below! Not that I did not already know. But honestly the guys flopping around in the two buckets are a part of the issue. Your ACTIONS are what truly matter and shine through at the end of the day. All this left and right jargon has surely made our nation weaker and filtered down to elected officials to make less decisions that strengthen the fabric of our society.
Conservative. You believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals.

[Shane]

I've always tried to keep it simple.. To me a conservatives lifestyle and actions are the opposite of liberal..
It's a hard line to draw, I know, but many of the so called "conservatives" that I know, who were pulling for a staunch conservative, live a fairly liberal lifestyle.. This is where the water gets really murky for me.. Its a real head scratcher...It's interesting to watch for sure. I see a whole lot of confusion..

The terms are used in politics as well as in religious contexts. Two different contexts, and not necessarily the same people.

[PondPopper]

The terms are used in politics as well as in religious contexts. Two different contexts, and not necessarily the same people.

That's for dang sure...

[Joshua Flournoy]

Well, if we're to believe Trump when he's said that he's a Conservative....A Conservative is someone who supports defaulting on the National Debt, or, alternatively Printing Lots More Money to forestall a default, causing lots of nice Inflation.

[Traildust]

So weeks and months have been spent proclaiming Trump is a conservative.....now we have diluted the meaning of "True Conservative " so it fits our narrative. Just let it go.

[kch73]

Republicans need to wake up!

It really depends on what issues we are talking about. I believe most conservatives want smaller govertment, less "free" programs/lower taxes and have a "up by your bootstraps mentatility". You want it, you earn it so to speak.

Most liberals or as they like to called progressives think the government should be the answer to all the problems and issues people have. Remember when Hillary said it takes a village, lmao.

I do believe that someone can be conservative fiscally and moderate to somewhat liberal on social issues. Look back in the 60's and 70's, and you will find the New England Republicans which is the Bush lineage and Rockfeller Republicans. Hell, we had a resourgance of them to elect Pataki three times in New York, maybe the most liberal large state!

I really am tired of the extreme right wing of the party right now...the fact that y'alls golden boy "**** Cruz" got stomped anywhere that wasn't hardcore conservative tells you the limited appeal of your message. I don't think Trump is perfect but we had a process and elections. He won the elections and votes. It's time to get behind him and make sure that we dont get stuck with a third term of Obama aka Hillary...