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Conservatives don't believe in Utopias. That's where we differ from you liberals. Asking a true philosophical Conservative what their favourite utopia is is quite like asking a lesbian to choose her favourite Islamic republic.
Liberals believe in Utopias because they fundamentally believe that people can be perfected, either willingly or unwillingly. They also believe that people can be convinced to forfeit their own self-interest for the collective good.
Conservatives, on the other hand, believe people are at once virtuous and fallible. We believe forcing people to virtue or subsidizing their failings is anathematic to Liberty. We believe in unfettered economic systems that harness man in his natural state to the benefit of all.
So it's a matter of degrees rather than absolutes. There is no "Conservative Utopia". But there are countries that espouse the principles of Natural Law and Individual Liberty to a greater extent than others.
Nicely summarized. I would say let's not get hung up on the utopia thought. Perhaps it can just be stated as a "vision" of a reasonably functioning society. I don't disagree with realistic view of human nature, and that people are fallible and self-interested. However, trade offs in personal freedom and good governance are what comprise a self-directed country. I am going to assume you are espousing libertarian vs. socially conservative ideals, which are often coercive and idealistic in their own ways. A truly libertarian approach, taken to extreme, could become anarchistic, creating a power vaccuum for some form of autocratic element. Highly functioning democracies seem to always involve many trade offs in freedoms.
So, general traits as you describe above, are fine, but to weigh their value, they have to be extrapolated to likely outcomes. To my mind, truly unfettered personal freedom would seem to inevitably end in anarchy and ultimately some undemocratic rule, or the "tragedy of the commons" where the resource base is destroyed. I am not saying either of the two thoughts I had are right, but I have yet to see an example that hits the right balance. We seem to be the furthest right of all the western democracies now, with perhaps Korea a bit further right in terms of tax policy at least.
Glock-Do you have an example of the countries that best espouse natural law and liberty?
This is an interesting topic. I've read the whole page and not heard anyone give an example of it working.
Because it hasn't been attempted. If you take time to become informed on the policies you would know this. The short times in our history has shown growth when the government stays out. Not that you care, lol.
Government manipulating the free market is what got the US into the Great Depression. Same problem we have now.
The Community Reinvestment Act is a prime example.
Yet again, congress comes up with a thousand page bill instead of a one page bill making "redlining" illegal.
This is what happens when government interferes with commerce.
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The Community Reinvestment Act (or CRA, Pub.L. 95-128, title VIII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977, 91 Stat. 1147, 12 U.S.C.§ 2901et seq.) is a United States federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to help meet the needs of borrowers in all segments of their communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.[1][2][3] Congress passed the Act in 1977 to reduce discriminatory credit practices against low-income neighborhoods, a practice known as redlining.[4][5]
The Act requires the appropriate federal financial supervisory agencies to encourage regulated financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered, consistent with safe and sound operation (Section 802.). To enforce the statute, federal regulatory agencies examine banking institutions for CRA compliance, and take this information into consideration when approving applications for new bank branches or for mergers or acquisitions (Section 804.)
Not sure what is implied by self-sufficiency, but Hongkong is a mixed economy, with plenty of government involvement on social affairs, not the Laissez-Faire utopia many want here.
Sounds like Singapore, but even more extreme when it comes to being a police state...
Of course, a socially-conservative utopia vs an economically-conservative utopia are two VERY DIFFERENT things...
Socially-conservative utopias - Iran, most of the muslim countries.
Because it hasn't been attempted. If you take time to become informed on the policies you would know this. The short times in our history has shown growth when the government stays out. Not that you care, lol.
Come on. This is not even close to answering the question. The government has never really "stayed out" so this is just an "lol, everyone knows that gravity is a liberal propaganda" kind of post that tries to demonstrate another person's foolishness and only makes clear your own.
Why has it not been attempted? If the ideas are so brilliant, why has not a single country in the world embraced them and thrived? And if Rush Limbaugh is such a sage, why does he keep describing an imaginary beast? A bit of humility might be in order, but I suspect we won't be getting any.
Come on. This is not even close to answering the question. The government has never really "stayed out" so this is just an "lol, everyone knows that gravity is a liberal propaganda" kind of post that tries to demonstrate another person's foolishness and only makes clear your own.
Why has it not been attempted? If the ideas are so brilliant, why has not a single country in the world embraced them and thrived? And if Rush Limbaugh is such a sage, why does he keep describing an imaginary beast? A bit of humility might be in order, but I suspect we won't be getting any.
I'm still waiting as well. So far all i'm getting is pretty much same the reasons for example why people on the right hate health care and unions. They don't know why or give any real answers, they just do because that's what their "leaders" tell them to, and they obediently follow.
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