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Are you really this obtuse or just pretending? The OP's examples for his argument were nearly all based around the pandemic, and I responded in kind. Now maybe you should actually contribute to the topic, if you are capable.
Well, it's you darned liberals and your mask wearing, freedom hating ways that are going to keep us from breaking the national record for deaths during a pan- er plandemic.
Yep, you have authoritarian collectivism being supported by the liberals/progressives and individual liberty being supported by conservatives, libertarians, and constitutionalists. The Borg Collective vs. free-thinking individuals. Coercion vs. freedom. Believing drugs and marrying a goldfish is freedom vs. believing free thought and belief is freedom. Having everything you own taken vs. the ownership of the hours of one's own life and the fruits thereof. Mandated mediocrity vs. the right to choose between mediocrity and excellence.
You partially missed my point.
I was saying that liberals used to be the pro-freedom ones: breaking away from the centuries-old traditions, and doing what makes you feel good: from wearing psychedelic colors to marrying a sheep (the four-legged kind). Conservatives held on to old traditions, and shamed the liberals for deviating from the norms.
Today, conservatives are the pro-freedom ones: doing what makes you feel good, like having a lively dinner party, and hugging or shaking hands with your best friends. Liberals, on the other hand, love the masks and social distancing, and shame the conservatives for deviating from the "norms". Same feces, different time.
I was saying that liberals used to be the pro-freedom ones: breaking away from the centuries-old traditions, and doing what makes you feel good: from wearing psychedelic colors to marrying a sheep (the four-legged kind). Conservatives held on to old traditions, and shamed the liberals for deviating from the norms.
Today, conservatives are the pro-freedom ones: doing what makes you feel good, like having a lively dinner party, and hugging or shaking hands with your best friends. Liberals, on the other hand, love the masks and social distancing, and shame the conservatives for deviating from the "norms". Same feces, different time.
Here's a different way to look at it: liberals are more likely to accept new ideas and adopt new practices. Conservatives are more likely to stick with what they know.
Here's a different way to look at it: liberals are more likely to accept new ideas and adopt new practices. Conservatives are more likely to stick with what they know.
If the old idea of socializing in person is wrong, I don't want to be right. Fauci himself said the "new normal" is here to stay for good.
States rights too to some extent. Liberals are now advocating not just sanctuary cities and states where they refuse to enforce national immigration laws, but they take it one step further and refuse to cooperate and even provide information to national law enforcement officers on immigration.
Conservatives have taken up a stronger position on freedom of expression where I live as well. Growing up it was Democrats saying "I disagree with everything you said, but I'd be willing to die to protect your right to say it." Now many Democrats I know want people's lives ruined over things that were mainstream beliefs just a decade ago.
Did the liberals and the conservatives flip-flop their main beliefs in recent years?
Not exactly. Until fairly recently, most "mainstream" conservatives argued for an open economy, but one restrained by religious and nationalistic absolutes; "mainstream" liberals (who have adopted the term "progressive" for cosmetic reasons) tend to defend the rights of the individual, but call for a stronger, more expensive, and centrally administered "safety net", financed by high marginal tax rates and justified in the name of a greater common good.
The libertarian (lower-case, please) movement began to emerge in the years after World War II -- drawing upon both the philosophical underpinning of Ayn Rand, and the realpolitik of William F. Buckley, co-opting conservative groups on dozens of campuses.
There isn't much of an authoritarian opposition to the libertarian movement -- for reasons which should be obvious
The only thing that has switched between liberals and conservatives in recent decades is trust of authority.
Liberals are now the ones who generally trust authority. This trust makes them the obedient ones. It is why they're willing to wear masks - because the scientific authorities generally say it's a good idea to help slow the spread of the virus. So, being the obedient ones, liberals generally comply. It is why they generally trust authorities when it comes to climate and environmental issues. It is why they generally trust election officials. And so on. This trust in authority and general obedience makes them less averse to passing laws and regulations. Liberals do not mind additional laws, regulations and programs, because they generally are not averse to abiding by them. Obedience has become almost a cultural thing with them.
This did not used to be the case. 50 years ago liberals tended to be the rebels and conservatives were the obedient ones. Not anymore.
I would say one reason why liberals have become the obedient authority-trusters is because, by and large, society has become more liberal over the past several decades (if not a century or more). Liberalism is generally in power in most of the developed world these days, so liberals agree with it and are happy to comply with that societal consensus.
Conservatives, on the other hand, are seeing their world gradually slip away. For that reason they are desperately fighting back by distrusting anything that threatens the further erosion of their world. Distrusting societal consensus, they also refuse to obey and abide by its edicts and norms. That is, they have become the rebels. And I will say, the more that world they want slips away, the more desperate their disobedience and rebellions will become. It is also why they are increasingly reliant on conspiracy theories for their worldviews, because they do not trust authoritative sources.
Last edited by James Bond 007; 12-24-2020 at 08:01 PM..
Conservatives, on the other hand, are seeing their world gradually slip away. For that reason they are desperately fighting back by distrusting anything that threatens the further erosion of their world. Distrusting societal consensus, they also refuse to obey and abide by its edicts and norms. That is, they have become the rebels. And I will say, the more that world they want slips away, the more desperate their disobedience and rebellions will become. It is also why they are increasingly reliant on conspiracy theories for their worldviews, because they do not trust authoritative sources.
Well, I'm no spring chicken now. And it'll take decades for the change to happen fully. By that time, I'll be 6 feet in the ground, practicing social distancing with the liberal wasteland our world will turn into.
And it's not a "conspiracy theory" if it's true. What if liberal politicians and their sponsors really did plan this summer's social unrest, using the Covid-19 plandemic as a diversion? The piles of bricks, the rent-a-mobs, and the U-Haul trucks. Facebook helped them along by allowing and promoting the pro-looting content, while censoring the anti-lockdown and the hydroxychloro-whatsit content.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 12-24-2020 at 08:40 PM..
And it's not a "conspiracy theory" if it's true. What if liberal politicians and their sponsors really did plan this summer's social unrest, using the Covid-19 plandemic as a diversion? The piles of bricks, the rent-a-mobs, and the U-Haul trucks. Facebook helped them along by allowing and promoting the pro-looting content, while censoring the anti-lockdown and the hydroxychloro-whatsit content.
And what if they didn't?
The social unrest over the summer was about a black guy who got killed by police, not the virus. But that's the kind of conspiratorial conservative thinking I was referring to - connecting completely unrelated events.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Democrats have become too dominated by academia, few influential voices within the party come from working class people. Academic types tend to be humorless and uptight, just like their polar opposite religions fundamentalists.
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