Just read an opinion piece that puts forward that conservatives are being mislabeled by liberals as a "wing" of the right -- right wing conservative, far right wing conservative, etc., and that this is hurting the movement making it seem that is to one extreme when it actually isn't.
The author says that politics refers to the activities associated with governance. There are two extremes -- to the left is the liberal-progressive viewpoint that desires more government influence and control, and to the right is libertarianism that desires more individual freedom and minimized government influence. In his opinion conservatisim is in the center, wanting to "conserve" the status quo, i.e. the US Constitution.
He says that by calling conservatism a wing and ultraconservatism an extreme wing of the right, that the left moves all forms of compromise toward a moderate so-called middle that is actually to the left.
He further clarifies that fascism, socialism and communism (all favorite labels the left puts on ultra right wingers) are all controlling governmental ideologies of the political left and have nothing to do with the right.
Last, he states that most conservatives believe that the US is a center-right country. But if preserving the letter of the constitution is considered the center, our country has moved towards more government control and influence, so that the country is really center-left.
His conclusion is that we need to re-establish conservatism as the center point and starting point for any political discussion and then determine if tweaks toward the left (more government) or right (less government) are the appropriate outcome.
Interesting take on liberalism-conservatism-libertarianism
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Re: Interesting take on liberalism-conservatism-libertariani
Link to article, please?133743Hokie wrote:Just read an opinion piece that puts forward that conservatives are being mislabeled by liberals as a "wing" of the right -- right wing conservative, far right wing conservative, etc., and that this is hurting the movement making it seem that is to one extreme when it actually isn't.
The author says that politics refers to the activities associated with governance. There are two extremes -- to the left is the liberal-progressive viewpoint that desires more government influence and control, and to the right is libertarianism that desires more individual freedom and minimized government influence. In his opinion conservatisim is in the center, wanting to "conserve" the status quo, i.e. the US Constitution.
He says that by calling conservatism a wing and ultraconservatism an extreme wing of the right, that the left moves all forms of compromise toward a moderate so-called middle that is actually to the left.
He further clarifies that fascism, socialism and communism (all favorite labels the left puts on ultra right wingers) are all controlling governmental ideologies of the political left and have nothing to do with the right.
Last, he states that most conservatives believe that the US is a center-right country. But if preserving the letter of the constitution is considered the center, our country has moved towards more government control and influence, so that the country is really center-left.
His conclusion is that we need to re-establish conservatism as the center point and starting point for any political discussion and then determine if tweaks toward the left (more government) or right (less government) are the appropriate outcome.