What is actual “conservative” belief

A lot of people are more interested in insulting one another and “winning” arguments than facts and rationality.  A great deal of society is addicted to this anger.  The problem is that by using terms such as ‘libtard’, ‘Obummer’ or ‘RepubliCON’, you’re not really providing any insight.  It’s like excessive profanity–it shows more that you can’t really communicate.

One of the serious problems facing Americans is that the term “conservative” has been co-opted by people who are not really conservative.  Indeed, it’s worse than that as they have painted those who are actually conservative with what they consider the most insulting of terms–“RINO”, “liberal”, etc.  (the idea that a political party must adhere to a purity test is absurd, but that’s a different argument).

So what IS conservative?  What does a century of consensus to its meaning tell us.  Let’s look at some conservative decisions of the past and see conservatives in action.  While we do this, think about these actions in the context of people who claim to be conservative today.  There is a great deal of difference between right-wing and conservative–and anyone who presents things in a right/wrong, black/white fashion is offering a fundamentalist world-view and you should be wary and skeptical of what they tell you.

In 1902, the Newlands Reclamation Act passed, putting 230 million acres under federal protection to prevent industrial exploitation.  In 1906, the Antiquities Act was passed; this allowed for specific lands to be put under federal care as national monuments.  Between 1906-1908, national parks were created and in 1908 the National Conservation Commission was created.  All of this was done by Teddy Roosevelt.  He believed government needed to regulate land use to balance environmental concerns with responsible use of the land.  The far-right disliked this and said the creation of national parks, the lack of business access to federal lands would “cripple our economic development from the Plains to California.”  100+ years later, was development crippled by setting aside lands for parks?

*This is conservative…it’s the root word of ‘conservation’ for God’s sake.

Executive Order 9981 by Truman, enforced by Eisenhower.  This desegregated the military.  This was done to ensure the maximum combat efficiency of the armed forces and to maximize available manpower for the defense of the United States.  Common sense now, but Truman had to force the Secretary of the Army to resign for refusing to implement the order.  Notice that the two men enforcing this–they are from different political parties.  Conservativism is not a partisan activity.  Indeed, by the Kennedy administration, noted “liberal” Robert McNamara instructed senior commanders and base commanders to use their financial power/oomph in those communities to work to end ANY racial discrimination in those regions.

Ike was racist by modern terms–but we must remember his era.  With that caveat and his personal ambivalence to race relations, after the Supreme Court decided the Brown v. Topeka case regarding school discrimination, Eisenhower intervened in Arkansas in 1957 when the state refused to desegregate and the governor threatened to deploy the state guard to prevent action.  Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne into Little Rock to escort the black students to school.  Without a Supreme Court ruling, he wouldn’t have acted–but the president’s job is to enforce what the Court has ruled–to obey the law of the land.  THIS is a conservative action.  The president followed a conservative principle in enforcing what was seen as a ‘radical, liberal’ Court decision (again, we’ll ignore the reality that it was not really ‘liberal’)

In 1967, a radically liberal governor passed a law, the Therapeutic Abortion Act.  This legalized abortions in the state of California–years before Roe v. Wade went before the Supreme Court.  The governor noted that the state had no right to intervene in medical decisions–that those were issues of privacy between patient and doctor, that if the state had the right to determine the legality of one medical procedure, then the state could interfere in any/all other medical procedures, taking away the rights of an individual over her own body–and that individual rights trump everything.  Remember, this is SIX YEARS before Roe v. Wade.  Know the liberal governor?  Ronald Reagan.  He’s absolutely right when it comes to conservative philosophy–or libertarian for that matter.  The government should not intervene in personal matters such as this.

Starting in the late 1950s, *conservatives* increased their concern over the environment after several toxic spills and other incidents.  Building on the Conservation Act of 1959 (under Eisenhower), the National Environmental Act of 1969 (Nixon) was meant to create a federal organization to guarantee environmental protection and put restrictions on pollution/waste creation.  This is Nixon’s first term, by the way–so there’s nothing here meant to distract from Watergate.  Nixon goes further and in 1970, begins the Environmental Protection Agency and even gives it teeth to create mandatory regulations and penalties for those who break the rules.  That wasn’t enough for Nixon’s administration which then signed the Clean Water Act into law two years later.

Nixon.  *NIXON*.  Think about the attacks on the EPA and environment with the EPA being accused of ‘liberalism’.

Reagan wound up president by the way–and during his eight years in office proceeded to create the Superfund for cleaning up spills and accepted an agreement in 1987 which proved the connection between pollution and ozone-layer destruction and that limits should be instituted to curb the damage.  Since I’m on the environment at the moment, it should be noted that the second Bush presidency saw the largest expansion of national park/restricted areas with the first massive maritime area put in place as a national park.

Back to Nixon for a moment–the dude even instituted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to create standardized regulations for workplace safety.  Damn that liberal.

And of course, more Nixon.  A different idea his administration had, one that was sidetracked by Watergate, was the idea of a lump sum benefits payment to the unemployed and under-employed–the universal basic income currently being touted by Andrew Yang and Elizabeth Warren.  It’s a NixonNixon idea.  (Think how far to the political right we have moved that an idea by Richard M. Nixon is now being accused of being radically socialist…another trigger word)

Of course, what became known as “Obamacare” was first implemented at the state level by Republicans and universal health care was an innovation of the radically liberal Prussian, Austrian, and Russian Empires.

So–when you read attacks on ‘liberal’ ideas, be aware–someone is trying to trigger an emotional response in your or bait-and-switch an argument rather than persuade you with real facts.  I’m not here trying to persuade you from your opinion–I’m happy to disagree with you, but hold your ideas for the right reasons.

Conservative does NOT equal right-wing. Liberal does NOT equal left-wing.

Help put society back on the proper track by holding politicians and pundits accountable for their poor logic and arguments, whether it is Mitch McConnell or Alexandria Cortez, Rush Limbaugh or Rachel Maddow.

***

PS.  Want to know who wanted to limit the size of American defense spending?

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. This is, I repeat, the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. This is, I repeat, the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. This is, I repeat, the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.