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Most conservatives just have this blind faith that if you get rid of the government, everything will just turn out peachy.
No they don't, although that myth is very commonly repeated by liberals. Conservatives don't want no government - that would be the anarchists - Conservatives want a much smaller, more responsible, less intrusive, government than we currently have.
I am mostly liberal but I don't feel a kinship with other liberals and I definitely find the conservative definition of liberal to be laughable. Conservatives do not understand liberals at all and practically every attempt at defining them ends up being something that could not survive outside the womb or came back through the Star Trek "beamer" all put together wrong (I think that happened in the first Star Trek movie).
In any case, I am this way because I care about the people around me and I don't have an issue with absorbing some of the cost of repairing our society. I see government not as an enemy but as something I have the power to mold, something I have a say in even if it's small and feels meaningless much of the time. There is no other institution which gives me that voice. Other than the power of my voice to influence others, and the strength of my body, my power rests with my fellow citizens in the form of government.
But there are limits. My education didn't teach me about federal budgets or social programs. Taxes were regarded as a necessary evil. If I make enough money to survive on what's left in my paycheck, what importance does the missing portion have if I don't see or hear that it's being wasted. Ah, but it is being wasted. My government uses the military to protect itself, not me or my fellow citizens. It involves itself in wars to protect corporate interests and passes the bill onto the people. So even though the Constitutional role of government is to protect us, it is lying to us with every dollar it spends. So I oppose war because there is so much profit in it...and so much death, destruction, and waste.
Even though I get depressed, all I have to do is go to Walmart to see hundreds of people more desperate than me. I see the most pitiful people using coupons on the cheapest items because that's all they can afford. I think we can do better and the free market that robbed these people of their intrinsic value and middle class incomes is NOT where I will turn for a solution. Government, flawed as it is, and as corporately dominated as it has become, is still the only way I can influence their situation as well as mine.
I do view the government as dangerous because it has used us as guinea pigs in military experiments, its bombards us with electromagnetic warfare and influences us in ways that weaken us. But I still harbor the sentiment that I matter and I can influence this whole country by example, by voting for people I can trust (a rare commodity), and by using my noggin to creatively come up with unique solutions.
I won't become a conservative for the simple reason that I can't follow their line of reasoning. Government is not the enemy because it belongs to us. The Constitution is not the will of God, I don't like guns, I will not tell a woman what to do with her body or tell two people of the same sex they can't have equality. I won't barge into people's bedrooms. I won't budget for wars when there are far more constructive and immediate needs to fill. I WILL demand a balanced budget, a fair form of taxation, and demand that health care become a right instead of a privilege.
This mostly liberal wants the best for my country and I will be hard pressed to change into anything different.
Higher intelligence, compassion for those less fortunate, desire for equality for everyone and high standard of living for more than a tiny fraction of the population, etc.
No they don't, although that myth is very commonly repeated by liberals. Conservatives don't want no government - that would be the anarchists - Conservatives want a much smaller, more responsible, less intrusive, government than we currently have.
Unless it involves social issues like abortion and gays, and then they want the government to invade everyone's private life to enforce their morality on the rest of society.
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