As my username suggests, I am a right leaning moderate. And this label has caused quite a bit of consternation from a small minority on this site. If I were to reregister I would use a different moniker as I don’t think it adequately explains me. I will attempt to do so below the fold. Please read the entire diary before making judgments…
First of all, I am not a huge fan of the right and left terms to begin with, but I thought using this moniker would actually benefit me as readers could easily see where I am coming from. I thought if I was up front with what I believed, people would respect that, and for the most part I think that is true. On the other hand, there is a small minority of people that have been outright nasty. That doesn’t really bother me, but it causes me to wonder how many others don’t know what is going on with me nor do they know what might (I hope) be going on with many “conservatives” in this country.
Without getting bogged down on what exactly a conservative is or should be, I’ll tell you how I see it. For me, being a conservative is putting ideology lower than values. And values such as liberty, tradition, security, equality, morality, justice and prosperity must all have their place in putting tension on other values (certainly there is a hierarchy). I also believe that being a conservative means that you reject out of hand the utopianism of libertarianism, communism, and to some degree liberalism (not that there is anything wrong with that) in favor of prudence and tradition. To a conservative, tradition should evolve through careful and thoughtful processes.
As for modern American politics, I consider myself “right-leaning” for the following reasons (no particular order):
1. I tend to think that Keynesian economics excesses are problematic.
2. I believe that a large welfare state is generally not a good thing as it can create perverse incentives.
3. I believe that free markets generally do a better job in the economy than do government subsidies, regulations, and other policies that are designed to “steer” the economy.
4. I believe that our foreign policy should first reflect our national interest (our national interests are tied to the morality of it all)
5. I believe that free trade is far superior to trade wars.
6. I to believe that traditional norms of morality are generally but not always correct. (I really don’t want to argue about this one as it is too much of a hot button for most)
7. All of the above in moderation and with temperance to understanding that all freedoms can be abused. Violence, immorality, and greed all must be repressed to some degree by the government (this should be a hint at where I am going).
8. While I believe that the welfare state should be limited, I also believe it can play a vital role in a stable society.
I’m sure many of you are thinking that I am just another right-wing troll, but before you do that read why I came here, why I post here, what I think of the current GOP, how my views have evolved in the last few years, and why I believe my views may be more in step with liberals than with the current conservative movement.
There are many liberal and conservative sites, and I would tend to favor reading and interacting on conservative sites, but for the most part conservative sites tend to hold ideological views that I do not subscribe to. Furthermore, it seems as if conservatives are living in a parallel universe often not informed by facts. Their views on conservatism are a hammer and every problem is a nail. Any problems brought up about health care, banking, or housing are just waiting for the standard Randian solution. If you disagree with them even one iota you are a RINO or even a liberal. There is never any thought that “conservative ideology” could be wrong or maybe even failed. Just as communism, it has just never been properly tried. There is no self-examination, no criticism of the current order within conservatism, but rather ignorance and misinformation rules the day. Now that I have covered the more sane aspects of conservatism, I must address the underbelly of conservatism, the radical right. Its always existed; from the KKK, John Birch Society, and even the Moral Majority to some extent. But now it has such a hold on the party that believing Obama is not a Kenyan Muslim Communist is seen as ignorance. Believing that torture is wrong or that immigrants should be treated fairly and even treated as human beings is seen as weak.
As for the GOP leaders, especially the GOP POTUS candidates, they have all jumped the shark. Newt Gingrich is the most corrupt (personally and professional) candidate the GOP has tried to hoist on the American Public in a long time. I thought Mitt had potential, but he has shown himself to only be a political animal and seems to have no core convictions. The rest are ignoramuses and buffoons, and not worthy of any realistic consideration. So either the GOP has left me or I have left the GOP, I don't really know. I do know that I haven't become liberal and I do know that I often disagree with liberals on just about everything and anything. I am ready to see the GOP destroyed; I’m ready to see a new more vibrant party or movement to represent conservatism.
Why DailyKos? Most political discussion forums are there so each side can blow off steam at each other, and I don’t find that helpful. On the other hand, I find that DailyKos is refreshing; while I am almost never in full agreement with most of the diaries, I appreciate that liberals today are some of the last people willing to factually criticize the current state of the country. I appreciate that they bring out real problems in need of real solutions, even if I don’t always agree with the solutions. How can one deny that there is a problem with healthcare, that banks have overreached, or that dismantling 40+ years of environmental protections are wrong? And while I realize that DK’s point of existence, to elect “better democrats”, conflicts with my views, I don’t believe I have to subvert that in order to participate. When I post, I try to ask question where I disagree (so that I can understand where they are coming from), and chime in where I do agree. I hope that liberals can see that they are having an impact with certain issues, and that they will stay focused on those issues as they can have lasting positive change on things that there is really pretty wide agreement. I don’t think I’m the only conservative that believes this.