The Burial of the Conservative Movement

[Anti Federalist]

The Bush presidency killed the conservative movement. It went on life support in 2001, and finally dropped dead for good in 2003 after the war in Iraq began. Conservatives, who claimed Bush as their own, either actively cheered or were too spineless to oppose the greatest expansion of government power since FDR.

In the process, they have authored their own demise, for the public now sees conservatism as the party of endless war, massive government, and crony capitalism.

This week, conservatism will finally be unceremoniously buried under an avalanche of electoral victories for Democrats. Even if McCain manages to pull this one out, the list of victories for Dems at the Congressional and Gubernatorial levels will be so long, that there will be no quick recovery for the right-wing.

But, even if McCain sailed to victory and all the GOP incumbents retained their seats, the GOP would simply strengthen its unqualified support of bailouts, war, massive spending, and the police state.

The movement is over. It was born out of a post-war ideological crusade to militarize the country in the name of anti-communism while at the same time deluding itself into thinking that it could defend liberty as well. The movement finally had to admit that this ideological program is incoherent at best. Thus, conservatism is no more. It only managed to survive all those years because it convinced voters that it was the ideology of fiscal responsibility and small government.

That proposition is obviously nonsense now, and the party is over. The myth (which was always a myth) has finally broken down under its internal contradictions. Logically speaking, it is impossible to be both for small government at home and for empire abroad simultaneously. Eventually the conservatives had to choose one or the other, and they chose empire over liberty.

Sure, there will still be a right-wing political movement. There is a Republican Party that commands the support of certain interest groups such as evangelical Christians, nationalists, and non-hispanic white males. But there is no ideological movement behind the Party because conservatism has been exposed as the farce it has always been.

No libertarian should mourn the death of conservatism. Conservatism was never anything more than a parasite ideology. It has always been a hideous carbuncle on the flanks of Classical Liberalism, the ideology of liberty. Conservatism latched onto the popularity of libertarian ideals of small and controlled government, and proceeded to pile on an endless array of contradictory big-government theories of militarism, nationalism,and protectionism while endlessly peddling nostaligia for the good ol' days.

So long conservatism. It's been a long, lousy fifty years, but now you're gone forever, and we'll just have to wait and see if you're replaced with something far worse, or if a true party of liberty takes your place. Your ersatz version won't be missed.

[nobody's_hero]

Now we have to kill liberalism.

[ChaosControl]

Now we have to kill liberalism.

That'll be fun. :)

[Anti Federalist]

Now we have to kill liberalism.

Hopefully, we won't have to do a thing.

With luck, it will collapse of it's own weight, just like the USSR.

"Wild West" Russia, Moscow billionaires, Reservoir Dogs style Russian mafiosi and full auto AKs FTW.:D

[Primbs]

When Obama starts clamping down on freedom and conservatism, many people are going to start thinking about what they are about to lose.

Hopefully, conservatism will be revitalized.

But there are no guarantees.

[Anti Federalist]

Primbs wrote:


Hopefully, conservatism will be revitalized

Let it, as a philosophy, die, along with the GOP.

Let, in it's place, a new party and philosophy of true freedom rise up.

"Reform cannot be achieved by a well-intentioned leader who recruits his followers from the very people whose moral confusion is the cause of the disorder." - Socrates ;)

[Truth Warrior]

Hopefully, we won't have to do a thing.

With luck, it will collapse of it's own weight, just like the USSR.

"Wild West" Russia, Moscow billionaires, Reservoir Dogs style Russian mafiosi and full auto AKs FTW.:D So basically, no change, only Amerikan style. ;)

[Throwback280s]

I like the Mises guys and all but I don't know why they're so obsessed with denigrating the concept of "conservatism."

Libertarianism as it is known in the mainstream today represented by CATO and Reason magazine is just as much a joke. They are socially liberal, politically correct, ex-hippies, who do nothing but pour scorn at conservative traditionalists like Ron Paul. Libertarianism today has nothing to do with restoring the Constitution, federalism, sovereignty, respect for life, etc. It only wants to deal in theoretical intellectual fluff such as ways to privatize garbage collection services in their local area.


I am a proud federalist, decentralist, classical liberal, small r republican, conservative. Go read Kauffman's Luther Martin book. You'll see how the old Anti-Federalists took on the role of the conservatives in opposing the nationalist progressives that were the Federalists.

So, no. I will champion the rebirth of true conservatism. Conserving the liberties and freedoms originally intended for us at the birth of our country.

[Truth Warrior]

I like the Mises guys and all but I don't know why they're so obsessed with denigrating the concept of "conservatism."

Libertarianism as it is known in the mainstream today represented by CATO and Reason magazine is just as much a joke. They are socially liberal, politically correct, ex-hippies, who do nothing but pour scorn at conservative traditionalists like Ron Paul. Libertarianism today has nothing to do with restoring the Constitution, federalism, sovereignty, respect for life, etc. It only wants to deal in theoretical intellectual fluff such as ways to privatize garbage collection services in their local area.


I am a proud federalist, decentralist, classical liberal, small r republican, conservative. Go read Kauffman's Luther Martin book. You'll see how the old Anti-Federalists took on the role of the conservatives in opposing the nationalist progressives that were the Federalists.

So, no. I will champion the rebirth of true conservatism. Conserving the liberties and freedoms originally intended for us at the birth of our country.


"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is." -- Ronald Reagan

[nodope0695]

Now we have to kill liberalism.


Liberalism is dead too if Obama get elected. We wil enter the age of American Socialism.

The only hope is for Liberty lovers to hold out and wait for the right time to take our nation back...by force if nessessary. A sad prospect, for sure. :(

THe only good thing I can see coming from a Obama administration is the galvanization of peoples' resolve to reign in government, and restore this nation to great republic it used to be.

[Primbs]

"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is." -- Ronald Reagan

Great quote. Which is why we should work inside the Republican party. If you can find a leader like Reagan, many republicans will come back to the limited government point of view.

[LibertyEagle]

The Bush presidency killed the conservative movement. It went on life support in 2001, and finally dropped dead for good in 2003 after the war in Iraq began. Conservatives, who claimed Bush as their own, either actively cheered or were too spineless to oppose the greatest expansion of government power since FDR.

In the process, they have authored their own demise, for the public now sees conservatism as the party of endless war, massive government, and crony capitalism.

This week, conservatism will finally be unceremoniously buried under an avalanche of electoral victories for Democrats. Even if McCain manages to pull this one out, the list of victories for Dems at the Congressional and Gubernatorial levels will be so long, that there will be no quick recovery for the right-wing.

But, even if McCain sailed to victory and all the GOP incumbents retained their seats, the GOP would simply strengthen its unqualified support of bailouts, war, massive spending, and the police state.

The movement is over. It was born out of a post-war ideological crusade to militarize the country in the name of anti-communism while at the same time deluding itself into thinking that it could defend liberty as well. The movement finally had to admit that this ideological program is incoherent at best. Thus, conservatism is no more. It only managed to survive all those years because it convinced voters that it was the ideology of fiscal responsibility and small government.

That proposition is obviously nonsense now, and the party is over. The myth (which was always a myth) has finally broken down under its internal contradictions. Logically speaking, it is impossible to be both for small government at home and for empire abroad simultaneously. Eventually the conservatives had to choose one or the other, and they chose empire over liberty.

Sure, there will still be a right-wing political movement. There is a Republican Party that commands the support of certain interest groups such as evangelical Christians, nationalists, and non-hispanic white males. But there is no ideological movement behind the Party because conservatism has been exposed as the farce it has always been.

No libertarian should mourn the death of conservatism. Conservatism was never anything more than a parasite ideology. It has always been a hideous carbuncle on the flanks of Classical Liberalism, the ideology of liberty. Conservatism latched onto the popularity of libertarian ideals of small and controlled government, and proceeded to pile on an endless array of contradictory big-government theories of militarism, nationalism,and protectionism while endlessly peddling nostaligia for the good ol' days.

So long conservatism. It's been a long, lousy fifty years, but now you're gone forever, and we'll just have to wait and see if you're replaced with something far worse, or if a true party of liberty takes your place. Your ersatz version won't be missed.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:


What don't you understand? Neoconservatives are not the same thing as Conservatives.

Here. READ IT:
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr071003.htm

[nodope0695]

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

What don't you understand? Neoconservatives are not the same thing as Conservatives.


QFT. NeoCons are liberals in disguise...they are more akin to the Nat'l Socialist Party of 1930's Germany. They are Nationalists, NOT Patriots.

[Truth Warrior]

Great quote. Which is why we should work inside the Republican party. If you can find a leader like Reagan, many republicans will come back to the limited government point of view.


http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i304/Truth_Warrior/freeyourmind.jpg


http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i304/Truth_Warrior/lewrock0305a.gif

[pcosmar]

Liberalism is dead too if Obama get elected. We wil enter the age of American Socialism.

The only hope is for Liberty lovers to hold out and wait for the right time to take our nation back...by force if nessessary. A sad prospect, for sure. :(

THe only good thing I can see coming from a Obama administration is the galvanization of peoples' resolve to reign in government, and restore this nation to great republic it used to be.

American socialism started in the early 1900s and was fully entrenched by the 1930s.
It has been growing since.
Both Obama and Mccain are solid socialists
An Obama presidency will bring the unrest needed to .implement the final solution, The end of the Constitution.
It is a plan.

[nodope0695]

American socialism started in the early 1900s and was fully entrenched by the 1930s.
It has been growing since.
Both Obama and Mccain are solid socialists
An Obama presidency will bring the unrest needed to .implement the final solution, The end of the Constitution.
It is a plan.


It won't go down without a fight.....at least I hope not.