Commentary: Longtime former Republican on Patrick Deneen and the demise of the conservative intellectual

  • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Name one conservative policy that has furthered mankind. Prohibition, voting rights, sexuality, drug war, terrorism; time after time they’ve been wrong. Even fiscally they run up the deficit. Their only role is to preserve hierarchy and maintain power

    • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      Name one conservative policy that has furthered mankind.

      Richard Nixon was at the helm when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded. I believe he also was responsible for protecting national parks, but I didn’t bother fact-checking that one.

      https://www.epa.gov/history#:~:text=EPA was created on December,human health and the environment.

      Now, granted, modern conservative politics are garbage-culture war bullshit, but we need to be cautious of forgetting history. Rewriting history is their game.

      • sauerkraus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Progressive policies implemented during a conservative presidency don’t seem like conservative policies.

        • BobosGonnaeGetYe6@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          If you can just hijack any and all “good” policies as inherently progressive then you’re just a self-fuelling fire who wants to hate conservatives no matter what.

          • sauerkraus@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I wouldn’t be crediting them with enacting good policy if it wasn’t progressive.

            If you can show an example of opposing progress that is good I’m all in on that conservative policy.

            The ESA was not good because it maintained the status quo. It was good because it was progressive. The fact that it was implemented during a conservative presidency is irrelevant.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              You’re buying in too much to the branding of big-P Progressive. The EPA, and environmental protections, are inherently little-c conservative positions.

              Not everything that is good is Progressive, and not everything Progressives want is good, or even intelligent. Rent control, as one very basic example, doesn’t work, and yet Progressives across America push it.

    • SCB@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      George W Bush massively expanded US Free Trade agreements. We went from 3 to 16 under his admin. That’s good for the entire world.

      Pretty much the only thing I don’t like about Biden is his protectionist stance.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The former, yes, the latter I bet we have significant disagreements on the definition of

          • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Tangentially, if you’re interested in rabbit holes, there’s a book by Matt Kennard called Silent Coup that deals with corporate influence over trade, it looks at the agreements countries have to sign to get corporations into their countries.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I’m well aware of this process and support it. Countries are welcome to make any deals they’d like. They’re presumably intelligent, independent entities making decisions in their own best interest.

              • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                So you’re in favor of BRICS and the devaluation of the petrodollar, if those countries choose to do that?

                • SCB@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  I recognize their right and potential desire to do it, but I think the likely economic responses and ensuing global downturn isn’t worth the eventual possible payoff for them

                  As an example of an actual unpopular opinion I have, I think it’s good that countries sell Nestle their water rights and then buy water back from them, if it results in a large enough economic impact for their nation.

    • Shatterdome@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Progressivism is moving towards collective goals. Conservatism is protecting individual freedoms.

      You many see individual freedoms differently than they do but that is the core fundamental policy they protect.

      • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        What you’re saying is true in theory, but the American Republican party has absolutely nothing in common with it.

        Just look at the patriot act, torture, detention, TSA, and all the other shit pushed through by the GOP that has decimated freedoms and privacy.

        The ONLY individual freedom the GOP protects unconditionally is for everyone and their uncle to own guns. Nevermind if your uncle is a lunatic, they’ll protect his freedom to be armed to the teeth.