Lotta people calling themselves 'Conservatives' nowadays.
You know the types. The ones who comment on political blogs in fragmented internet speak with angry emotion. The ones who complain about the increasing roughness of our popular culture (yet think nothing of their own contributions to the increasing roughness of the political discourse in our culture), and cry perpetually for the government to suppress it. The ones who are too busy fellating the statue of Mammon to have any understanding how Mammon works best when proper guidelines are set. The ones who endlessly bleat about how God knows not our beastly society, and has turned His back on us, yet embrace enthusiastically the very moneychangers Jesus expelled from the Temple. The ones who spend all of their time demonizing and fear mongering because they can't engage in a properly aired debate, and speak in well-woven code words in a foolish attempt to disguise their racism and their bigotry and their ignorance.
They all refer to themselves as 'Conservatives'.
Actually, none of these people would know a real Conservative if one of them came up and smacked them in the face. If they DID figure it out, they'd probably think that the real Conservative was just another force in the universe to demonize, yet another barbarian at the gate in their quest to fill our society with posters of a smiling Ronald Reagan that have captions that read, 'The Gipper Is Watching YOU!' After all, there are so many barbarians at the gate, you know?
99 out of 100 people who call themselves 'Conservatives' are clearly not. No. They're authoritarians. They're not really 'Conservatives'. The real Conservative believes in a smaller government, smaller for ALL. They don't go around complaining about the growing omnipotence of an ever more bloated federal government, and at the same time seek to find ways to use said federal government to assail anyone they consider an enemy.
The real Conservatives seem to try to find ways to address the problems that we have in our society- both the momentary, and the chronic- and use their philosophies to craft solutions. One may disagree with the mechanics of it all, but they are clear headed, and have the capacity to grow. The Authoritarians choose to ignore our greatest, most important issues, and go after the push-button, emotional issues instead- issues that they have very little power to change. Their power lies in the art of distraction; that if these emotional push-buttons keep everyone occupied, it will keep everyone's attention off the things that are beyond THEIR comprehension, and at the same time, keep the disciples of Mammon free from interventions or interruptions.
The Authoritarians don't govern well (e.g. Iran). Misanthropic they are, after all. What they do well is the promulgation of fear. Fear works well with its friends, Hatred and Paranoia. Turn on Fox News (go ahead! I double dare ya!), and you're inundated by the the gruesome threesome- Fear, Hatred, and Paranoia. In the end, they're not talking about what's really important with the world.
There's a difference between seeing the world realistically, and seeing the world in terms of how things ought to be. The latter examples had their turn at the wheel for the past eight years, and witness the mess they left. Now that they're on the outs, they all talk of suppression and repression and Armageddon. There are Conservatives, and then there are Authoritarians. Who needs a bunch of assholes telling you how to live your life, anyway?
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