The fundamental flaw of conservatism

[Jack of Spades]

For the purposes of the thread, I mean conservatism as a mindset which seeks to conserve "the good old ways". Be it politics, ways of life, morality or understanding about how the world works etc.

I think the said attitude, which seems to be the underlying attitude for almost all of the conservatism I encounter, basically says that the time must be stopped, or reversed, to achieve ideal state of things.

The fundamental flaw of this mindset is that, if our ancestors in the stone age, ancient world, middle ages, or in any other given point in history, chose to do just that and stopped the progress, we would not be having this conversation at all, because we would either have no functional language to speak, no skills to write it in text, or certainly not computers.

What is the norm of today, is precisely what conservatives of the yesterday were fighting against when it was introduced. And the generation of tomorrow, including the conservatives of that generation, will be comfortable dealing with the things that were revolutionary today.

 

[dysert]

Actually, when I think of conservatism I think of preserving what's good and progressing away from what's bad. Unfortunately, progressives tend to progress away from what's good, too.

When I was a kid times were better. It was safe to go outside and play with my friends. There was not a culture of drugs or gangs around my neighborhood. AIDS wasn't even heard of then. I suspect crime was lower, divorce was lower, abortions were certainly lower, and nuclear families were the norm. We have "progressed" away from all that, to our peril.

 

[JackRT]

Tony Campolo, a Christian motivational speaker, once said "Conservatives are people who worship at the graves of dead radicals. Stop to think about that. The people who started this country, George Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, these were not conservatives; these were the radicals of the time. In fact, conservatives always look back on people who they despised and make them into heroes. If you were to listen to the religious right today, they would make you believe that Martin Luther King was one of their flock. In reality, they hated him and did everything they could to destroy him."

 

[Jack of Spades]

The people who started this country, George Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, these were not conservatives; these were the radicals of the time.

Democracy was the big diabolical ungodly idea of the time. It was a violation of God-given natural order where kings rule the people. It is sort of ironic how that has been forgotten.

When I was a kid times were better. It was safe to go outside and play with my friends. There was not a culture of drugs or gangs around my neighborhood. AIDS wasn't even heard of then.

When you're kid, you're very much unaware of the bad things going on around you unless they directly affect you. That might create state of care-freeness which has little to do with objective reality, and much more to do with lack of information.

For more objective picture, you gotta look at statistics. Starting with Wikipedia, it looks like violent crime rates are at an all time low in the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States

 

[durangodawood]

Conservatism is the brakes.
Progressive/liberalism is the gas.

Either one may be the right or wrong pedal, depending on the situation.

Though typically we need a little more gas than brakes if we're going to go anywhere.
Life is change.

 

[Jack of Spades]

Conservatism is the brakes.
Progressive/liberalism is the gas.

Either one may be the right or wrong pedal, depending on the situation.

I guess that's how it would be in an ideal world.

That idea assumes though that both groups of people are heading towards the same goal. In such a situation, where the goal is the same, it's not that difficult to overcome differencies.

 

[Greg J.]

Both conservative and liberal beliefs are away from the bad and toward the good. At the same time both are away from the good and toward the bad. I think that means humans are involved. Flee to principles God has revealed! The problem then is conservative vs. liberal interpretation of God's principles.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:24-25, 1984 NIV)

The roots of truth are not found in ideas, but through a relationship.