Why Conservative hate Democracy-Part 1

1. 82

   Credence2posted 3 weeks ago

   First of all, happy New Year to our forum regulars and then to the world at large, most of us who welcome the end of certainly a contentious year
   
   Paragraphs in quote marks are excerpts from the following article
   
   https://jacobinmag.com/2019/08/conserva … mmigration
   
   
   "It is true that Trump’s openly racist and misogynist rhetoric has plunged mainstream US political discourse to depths unseen since the days of Jim Crow. But Trump’s time in office has also revealed a more mundane truth: the president, for all his illiberalism and contempt for democracy, is a product of the mainstream American conservative movement."
   
   ( So, conservatives, cutting to the chase, YOU Are TRump and Trump Is YOU. So, of course you will vote for him in large numbers regardless of how bad he smells)
   
   "The broader story, eclipsed by Trump’s scandalous behavior, is that for decades, the US right has been fighting to roll back the progress won by the great social movements of the twentieth century. To do so, they have proven time and again that they are willing to go after democracy itself in a bid to preserve the oligarchs’ stranglehold on power and wealth — aided in no small part by deft exploitation of the various counter-majoritarian institutions embedded in the American political system."
   
   (So, that is why conservatives cling to the Electoral College, hmmm. So, there is found the very foundation of distrust of the general electorate from the "Bread and Circuses" crowd.)
   
   "Democracy, of course, is about more than just representative government, majority rule, or access to the ballot box. Real democracies rest upon an egalitarian distribution of power in the economy and society writ large, as well as strong protections for minority groups and individuals. Yet even if we narrowly define democracy as the ability of ordinary people to select representatives who make policy on their behalf, it’s clear that the modern, mainstream conservative movement is openly hostile to democracy. And it has been since the very beginning."
   
   Conservatives Against Democracy
   
   "Conservatives today relies on political institutions that brazenly undercut majority rule. The Senate, the courts, the Electoral College — all provide conservatives with structural advantages at the expense of the many. But the Right isn’t content to sit back and cash in on the tilted playing field. It actively labors to restrict voting rights, skew the census, gerrymander districts, and generally increase the sway of the country’s most anti-majoritarian institutions. When confronted with criticism, they resort to the nonsensical argument that “we’re a republic, not a democracy.”
   
   ("We are a republic, not a democracy", how many times do I hear that phrase parroted by your standard Rightwinger?)
   
   "Majoritarianism is not the same thing as democracy. Free speech rights, civil rights, and other protections are essential to a flourishing democracy. But conservatives’ contempt for majority rule does not spring from a concern for a beleaguered minority (unless you think big business qualifies as an oppressed group). The truth is, the Right doesn’t expect a majority of Americans to support their policies, nor do they particularly care."
   
   ("Majoritarianism is not the same thing as democracy". How many times have I attempted to explain this to certain conservative oriented forum participants?)
   
   "Yet for all their wealth and power, the Right’s ideas are only growing more unpopular with time. When progressive policies appear on the ballot in a direct referendum, shorn from half-hearted, business-friendly Democratic Party messengers, conservatives lose, time and again, be it right-to-work laws, minimum wage hikes, or Medicaid expansion, even in Republican strongholds."
   
   "The Right is afraid of the people — because they know that a mass democratic movement can win."
   
   ("The Right is afraid of the people", see evidence in the subsequent forum topic. I certainly want to be found on the correct side of this fundamental struggle within th American political milieu and it is certainly not THEIR side)

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   1. 83

      Sharlee01posted 3 weeks agoin reply to this

      Being an opinion piece, I chose not to go too far disputing any of the writer's views.
      
      "( So, conservatives, cutting to the chase, YOU Are TRump and Trump Is YOU. So, of course, you will vote for him in large numbers regardless of how bad he smells)"
      
      To understand today's conservative thinkers require one to look outside the stereotypical assumptions and associations that some ascribe to conservatives. IMO -- The conservative thinker today does still believe in an enduring moral order and are mindful of their foundations, but have a  zeal for reform.   However, are cautious and careful not to tear down the entire structure they have come to appreciate."If it's not broke don't fix it"...   Rather than wanting automatically to tear apart everything that is conservatives, they keep their innate characteristics before adopting change, they want time to first to inspect and understand if  "new" will serve them as well as "old". So, if Trump smelled, did that change in smell provide conservatives anything that they could adopt as their own?
      
      Did his Trump deliver for Conservatives?   American conservatives generally consider individual liberty very important, they appreciate little Government,  supports lower taxes, free-market capitalism, restrictions on immigration, increased military spending, gun rights, restrictions on abortion, deregulation and restrictions on labor unions.
      
      IMO Trump is not a Conservative, but he sure supported a conservative agenda, almost to the letter...  I actually don't think any other Conservative president has met his mark. 
      
      Not sure if conservatives are "afraid of people". I think they are tolerant to a certain extent of people, and then due to very logical thinking, they push back only when needed to keep their desired order. They don't mind change, but that change needs to make perfect sense.

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      1. 82

         Credence2posted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

         A most thoughtful reply, Sharlee.
         
         Do you think that the ideals of conservatives should be apply to everyone even those that votes otherwise? Should conservative not subject themselves to the Democratic process as the left is expected to do? I have to say that what Conservative is what a Conservative does.
         
         Not everybody is "conservative" nor see it, as defined in current American politics, as the best way forward.
         
         What you say sounds like it makes sense, so why are those ideas not more universally embraced by the electorate, and why did Trump lose?
         
         Are you, as a conservative, willing to accept majority rule even if they are contrary to your objectives as a conservative?

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