What do conservatives REALLY believe in?

[Andrew_Writer]

Hi!

I'm new to this site. Can anyone point me to some books or other sources about conservatives, who they are and what they believe in? I don't want a book written by a conservative, I want something objective, which I don't think would be too flattering to them.

This is for a book I'm writing about conservative's REAL beliefs. I think many of you would enjoy reading it.

Thanks in Advance!

Andrew

[FarLeftFist]

1. here:

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-hitler.htm

[Andrew_Writer]

16. thanks

that is good!!!

[DefenseLawyer]

2. The Assault on Reason

by Al Gore; The New Right v. The Constitution, by Stephen Macedo or Conservatives Without Conscience by John Dean.

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. Mine!

:hi:

[ElboRuum]

4. Actual conservatives or modern day conservatives?

If you mean modern day, I would have to say that the motto of today's conservative is 'Self uber alles'.

[Andrew_Writer]

7. modern yes

Yes the types who follow Limbaugh and Beck, not the moderates.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Ayn rand

And objectivism

[FarLeftFist]

5. conservatism is based almost entirely on fear.

[msongs]

6. I've got mine so f you, or we've got ours so f you. the second is the family version lol nt

[kestrel91316]

8. Greed is good.

[comtec]

9. I suppose it depends on what you mean as far as believes... and which ones?

BTW there are no neutral sources.
any time you write on a subject you're partial, either for or against.
facts have a liberal bias
a traditional conservative believes in conservation, asking one's time and methodically considering something before acting.
However conservatives have had one running thread through the Eons, and that is money.

they have always been about protecting their wealth from everyone, especially the government.
They believe in "Ikke ikke ikke, en de rest kan stikke" it's a thing dutch children say... me me me and the rest can die!

and that pretty much sums up the modern conservative. they're not actually complicated, just pathetic.
yes i'm biased, but i've lived 36 years and i've seen first had what happens when they get power... they destroy.

there was no reason for de-regulate like a drunk sailor starting in the 80's. EVERYONE was prospering. The middle class was STRONG. The government was slow but EFFECTIVE. Everyone was doing ok for the most part. Yes there were some struggles. recessions ALWAYS happen after a hot war (vietnam) but that was ended.

if you want one word to sum up conservatives... it's greed.

[jberryhill]

15. "any time you write on a subject you're partial, either for or against"

I used to write extensively on electron-hole pair generation and recombination in direct bandgap semiconductors.

I never really stopped to consider whether I was against it or for it.

[MilesColtrane]

10. Money, and lots of it.

[louslobbs]

11. Money, power, and more money and power and more money and.......n/t

Lou

[WCGreen]

12. Simple, what ever it will take to gain power at the expense of progressives

and democrats.

[Fumesucker]

13. Pissing off liberals..

Oh, and cheap labor..

Every single "conservative" policy can be shown to accomplish either one or both of those things..

[Gregorian]

14. Here

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

[Rhiannon12866]

18. Books:

"Blinded by the Right" by David Brock and pretty much anything by John Dean, especially "Conservatives Without Conscience." Also Greg Palast is a good source, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy," among others.

[Kennah]

19. That's actually a very tough question to answer.

I say that because I'm not sure most conservatives really know what they believe in.

One of the simpler examples could be encapsulated in any of the various protest signs that read, "Keep The Government Out Of My Medicare."

They spend like mad when a Republican is the President, then rail against spending when a Democrat is the President.

The current frontrunner in the GOP Presidential race implemented heathcare reform in Massachusetts, aka Romneycare, yet they rail against healthcare reform at the federal level, aka Obamacare.

I am perhaps somewhat off the mark since I am laying out the case for what the GOP believes whereas you asked what a conservative believes. I accept that critique, but the GOP contains any number of factions including modern day conservatism.

Simply put, conservatives believe in paradox. Put into other words, they believe in absurdity, ambiguity, inconsistency, and nonsense.

[quaker bill]

20. It is not what they say they believe but what they do

that actually tells the story. They believe in small government until their neighbor builds something they don't like, then they want government to prevent it or remove it. They believe in liberty until something offends them, then government should create a law against it....

They believe that deficits should be reduced until they want to spend money and cut taxes, then "deficits don't matter".

It is fluid and very transactional stuff.

[HughBeaumont]

21. Gobz O Cash, Fisting the Little Guy, even if that "little guy" is them.

I think that covers it.

[pampango]

22. Robert Reich: Republican politicians aren't conservative. They're worse - regressive.

"Progressives believe in openness, equal opportunity, and tolerance. Progressives assume we're all in it together: We all benefit from public investments in schools and health care and infrastructure. And we all do better with strong safety nets, reasonable constraints on Wall Street and big business, and a truly progressive tax system. Progressives worry when the rich and privileged become powerful enough to undermine democracy.

Regressives take the opposite positions. Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and the other tribunes of today's Republican right aren't really conservatives. Their goal isn't to conserve what we have. It's to take us backwards.

They'd like to return to the 1920s -- before Social Security, unemployment insurance, labor laws, the minimum wage, Medicare and Medicaid, worker safety laws, the Environmental Protection Act, the Glass-Steagall Act, the Securities and Exchange Act, and the Voting Rights Act. In the 1920s Wall Street was unfettered, the rich grew far richer and everyone else went deep into debt, and the nation closed its doors to immigrants.

Listen carefully to today's Republican right and you hear the same Social Darwinism Americans were fed more than a century ago to justify the brazen inequality of the Gilded Age: Survival of the fittest. Don't help the poor or unemployed or anyone who's fallen on bad times, they say, because this only encourages laziness. America will be strong only if we reward the rich and punish the needy."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/gop-ideals_b_1014396.html?ref=mostpopular

[B Calm]

23. Well since they hate the working class, it must be CHEAP LABOR

http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/?q=node/16

[rucky]

24. Anything by George Lakoff

[barbtries]

25. John Dean

http://www.amazon.com/Conservatives-Without-Conscience-John-Dean/dp/B001G8WNEG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319194843&sr=8-1
conservatives without conscience

http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Government-Republican-Destroyed-Legislative/dp/0143114212/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1319194843&sr=8-3

of course i'm not sure they have any REAL beliefs beyond greed.

[Tennessee Gal]

26. Kevin Phillips, John Dean, George Lakoff

[kentuck]

27. They believe in deception...

That they have the power to fool enough of the people enough of the time to remain relevant as a national political Party. They remember their history as Whigs.

They understand the necessity of deception because otherwise, they would not have enough support to compete on a national level. They have to be anti-government. They have to be anti-taxes. They have to make people believe that everyone can be a millionaire or an entrepreneur. Reality tells us that it is not possible but Republicans believe that, by and large.

[IndyPragmatist]

28. It seems you wanted a serious answer, and none have been given yet

So I'll give it a try.

The term "conservative" is tricky. Just like the term "liberal", there are many people that claim to be it, but are not anything close to being it. Most Republicans are not conservatives; they are Neo-Conservatives.

Of course, neither conservative or liberal is used correctly in the United States. But that's another discussion. For this, we will use the terms as they are currently (and wrongly) used in American politics.

Modern conservatives believe in smaller government. They believe that society as a whole can provide for the needy without government intervention. They believe that private charity is the best way to help those less fortunate. This same logic plays into economic beliefs. They believe the market can regulate itself. In some instances, this is true. Netflix is a great example of how people can collectively force action on the market without government intervention. However, this tends to only be effective when a good or service is used widely. Controlling financial institutions through this type of action isn't nearly as effective. But the reason they believe in this is because individuals and businesses have more to gain and lose when it comes to making economic decisions. This is true. An individual or small business is going to know the best course of action for their personal gain much better than any representative in Washington. However, this creates a system of everyone only looking out for the interests of themselves instead of society as a whole. The correct course of action for a small business owner is not always what is best for the employees or the community. Thus, you have some trying to improve their personal situation by damaging the situation of someone else.

Additionally, conservatives believe in individual liberty. This is very rare with the current Republican Party. Pretty much the only Republican that believes in this anymore is Ron Paul. The rest would rather force religious beliefs on everyone to secure the religious vote. The principal of individual liberty and freedom is why there is so much support for military intervention in other nations. They believe that we are "spreading democracy" and freeing the people from tyranny. That obviously isn't always the case (as we have seen) because the conservative ideology does not align with the current Republican Party.

I could go on and on about this. I wrote a 30 page thesis on the topic of liberalism in America as an undergrad, and there was a good amount done on conservatism as well. I think you need to be a little clearer about what you are looking for with this. Modern American conservatism? Classical conservatism? Republican ideology? But I hope this helps a little.

[TransitJohn]

29. Conservatism is a social pathology motivated by hate, fear, and greed. eom

n/t

[sarcasmo]

30. Sky beings and the womb.