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Thread: A Conservative Wakes Up

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    Quote Originally Posted by belme1201 View Post
    "Yet" in Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, the US is not at the top. Scandinavia and W. Europe tops us. Where would we be if military spending was at the same level as other 'developed' countries and we were free to spend on problems within our borders?
    Personally, I think we should indeed pull our military back to within our borders. No bases in any other country. No intervention anywhere outside our borders. Everyone else is on their own. We implement free trade with any other country and allow them the ability to run their country as they see fit.

    Sound good?

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    Quote Originally Posted by belme1201 View Post
    The people of those countries think so in polls, who's a better judge? The Danes are the happiest people on Earth, followed by several others ahead of the US.
    Now you can answer my question, IF you can.
    Do you have a link to these polls?

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    Bump, I needed to check something.
    Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.

    "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire

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    If she has experienced the freedom the country has offered before she goes. If not, she is probably scared of that freedom and stays in the hypothetically successful socialistic country.

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    Didn't see this till today.

    Quote Originally Posted by leaningright View Post
    If she has experienced the freedom the country has offered before she goes. If not, she is probably scared of that freedom and stays in the hypothetically successful socialistic country.
    That's an interesting comment as it assumes 'freedom' as you see it exists as a primary value. My assumption, or rather position is, she is a conservative in the sense in which many Americans today see conservatism - a kind of libertarian place where 'freedom' means you are on your own. That is a complicated position on a number of levels but we'll leave it there.

    FN By calling it 'socialistic' you evoke the mental stick that somehow this is bad. That is a 'did you stop beating your wife question'. Only works if .... I leave why out.

    I think she stays.
    Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.

    "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire

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    Quote Originally Posted by PostmodernProphet View Post
    and yet, the one country in the world that comes the closest to it, is still the most successful country in the world.....the US......
    Millions living in poverty. A very bad educational system for the poor. The wealth gap is higher than the Gilded Age and getting worse and worse. More shootings than any other country by far. No healthcare for millions. We turned higher education into a for-profit business dooming young people to educational mortgages that can haunt their entire lives.
    There is plenty wrong in America, a country that has the greatest percentage of its citizens in prison. Of course, that is for profit too.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypress View Post
    Edit: as postulated, the rightwing fringe wants a country before the New Deal.

    aka, before regulation of corporations..................
    Government regulation of corporations dates to the 1880's.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gonzomin View Post
    Millions living in poverty. A very bad educational system for the poor. The wealth gap is higher than the Gilded Age and getting worse and worse. More shootings than any other country by far. No healthcare for millions. We turned higher education into a for-profit business dooming young people to educational mortgages that can haunt their entire lives.
    There is plenty wrong in America, a country that has the greatest percentage of its citizens in prison. Of course, that is for profit too.
    About 6-8% are in private prisons.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypress View Post
    Edit: as postulated, the rightwing fringe wants a country before the New Deal.

    aka, before regulation of corporations..................
    Government regulation of corporations dates to the 1880's.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Canceled1 View Post
    Wonder when those polls were taken. Before or after Happy Hour, or should I say Happy Days?

    World/Global Alcohol/Drink Consumption 2009

    Europeans are the world's top consumers of alcohol in the world.

    Heavy drinking is part of the culture of Northern Europeans in particular.

    In the 25-member EU, 90 percent of 15- and 16-year-old students have consumed alcohol at some point in their lives, a rate far higher than in the United States, according to the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs. On average, they begin to drink at 12½ and get drunk for the first time at 14. Among 15-year-old Danes, 50 percent of the boys and 37 percent of the girls drink every week, according to a study by the University of Copenhagen.

    http://www.finfacts.ie/Private/bestp...riceseurope.ht
    Europe also has the world's highest suicide rate:

    Europe: 15.4
    SE Asia: 13.2
    W Pacific: 10.2
    Americas: 9.8
    Africa: 7.4
    E Mediterranean: 3.9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gonzomin View Post
    Millions living in poverty. A very bad educational system for the poor. The wealth gap is higher than the Gilded Age and getting worse and worse. More shootings than any other country by far. No healthcare for millions. We turned higher education into a for-profit business dooming young people to educational mortgages that can haunt their entire lives.
    There is plenty wrong in America, a country that has the greatest percentage of its citizens in prison. Of course, that is for profit too.
    obviously its not perfect....for example there is no capital punishment for lib'ruls.....

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    Quote Originally Posted by midcan5 View Post
    For discussion - Thought Experiment #1 (Try to stay away from slogans and labels.)

    A few may be familiar with my nutshells, in them I tried to isolate the characteristics of a particular ideology. This time you decide, but remember this is a thought experiment and the premise is not debatable.

    One day a conservative wakes up from a coma in a world unlike her past world. In this world equality trumps personal freedom. The political structure could be defined as a constitutional cooperative in which decisions are made democratically and an elected court settled issues that any average citizen or minority group could disagree on.

    The overall philosophical Weltanschauung means no one is super rich and no one poor. The society varies but it excludes extremes. All receive a stipend, so all live securely. All fundamental services are free, these include transportation, education, and healthcare. Work is private, state, and federal but all work is supportive of the society and not just the person or corporation, above average profits are returned to the society. The business person, entrepreneur, artist, does enjoy prestige and a higher standard of living.

    The conservatives finds this odd and uncharacteristic but soon grows accustom to the society, she receives a stipend, finishes her education, and finds work in a private industry.

    One day the conservative discovers there is another nation in which personal freedom trumps equality. In this place extremes of all kinds exist and government and law exist to defend or to protect power. This nation is basically considered a libertarian capitalistic republic. In this society no stipend system exists and no service is free. While the nations are isolated from each other, each feels, and their media supports their political structure as the best political structure. Movement between nations is possible as both at a base level respect personal freedom.

    What does the conservative do and why? Does she stay or leave for a nation that allows more economic freedoms, more profit, and is similar to her core ideological position up to her coma? Or does she change and stay, why?
    She does what all Conservatives do. Stays in her country with the high living standards while complaining about how much better things would be without all the government regulations she enjoys.

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    Quote Originally Posted by midcan5 View Post
    Bump, I needed to check something.
    and did grind warn you for bumping this thread that was nearly a decade old?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flash View Post
    Europe also has the world's highest suicide rate:

    Europe: 15.4
    SE Asia: 13.2
    W Pacific: 10.2
    Americas: 9.8
    Africa: 7.4
    E Mediterranean: 3.9
    Europe is not a nation

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    Quote Originally Posted by evince View Post
    Europe is not a nation
    Neither are any of those other regions listed in the chart. Nowhere does say nation--I assumed you knew it is a region of the world.

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