Conservatism Is The New Punk Rock

Posted by khalling 11 years, 4 months ago to Culture
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Kurt Schlichter (Twitter: @KurtSchlichter) was personally recruited to write conservative commentary by Andrew Breitbart. He is a successful Los Angeles trial lawyer, a veteran with a masters in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, and a former

stand-up comic.

Post Hill Press will publish his book “Conservative Insurgency: The Struggle to Take America Back 2013-2041” on July 15, 2014.

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  • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The "majority" is having their freedoms decreased at an increasing rate, with no real net increase in societal freedom. Requiring 100% of all cake bakers to bake cakes for those whom they would rather not, for a group that truly only represents less then 1% of the population, is a net loss of freedom, with the greatest loss to those in the majority, and little or no increase in freedom to those in the supposed "minority."
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Right. Those are not freedoms, they are enslavements of others to your benefit. But since it benefits you, you are happy to enslave others. And when you have voted in to office politicians only happy to do so in order to retain their power, it seems like freedom.

    But how is it free for the cake baker to be forced to bake a cake for a couple whom they would freely choose to refuse payment for their service? How is it free for a person in fairly good health to decide that they do not need healthcare insurance yet is forced to purchase the same, merely as a consequence of living - not as a requirement for some other behavior. How is it freedom for less than 50% of the populace to pay any portion of income taxes, and the top 10% pay nearly all of the income taxes, while the bottom 50% pay nothing and many actually receive transfer payments.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The left, and NC in particular, want to use anarchy as the catalyst to totalitarianism - where they control. They want this control because they believe that they know best and deserve authoritarian control because they want to do the "best" for the world.

    They shroud "freedom" in specialized privilege to the few that does not affect the many - directly. But as they gather control their influence over larger portions of the culture will grow. They will insist that religious tenets be eliminated as bigoted against some (this is already occurring). Next they will go after the majority as bigots for not reducing themselves to the same level as the minorities (this too is already occurring). Lastly, they will go after the minorities, who they will say are not living up to their potential and must thus be controlled for their own good.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Depends on how you characterize the Tea Party. Many of them count themselves as conservatives, many others libertarians, and even some as true Liberals (in the classic sense, more than the modern progressive sense). Few traditional Repub's would really fit the bill - not even sure that I'd call them C&W types, more like muzak if you ask me - nothing really firm and distinctive, vaguely like the original but just not very convincing or satisfying.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 4 months ago
    Other than the Styx slight, pretty insightful. Yes, libs are no longer the freedom lovers (if they ever really were - methinks they were only anti-establishment). Conservatives have been economic freedom lovers (although many Repubs have increasingly become puppets of the cronyist CofComm's), but have always had issues on the social liberty front - despite being shown to be wrong on many issues.

    I'm not sure that Conservatives are really the punk rockers - but certainly the Tea Partiers can be seen as such, politically speaking.
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  • Posted by khalling 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    yes. Orientals! gasp! don't say that! we will get a mob together and keep you from a job in a company you created! good plan. dumbshits
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  • Posted by khalling 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    um, if that's where you see it now...yes, the right holds the US under its thumb. the threats on the horizon are the rich will not support your needs. gasp! the words out of your mouth are hurtful and we will back that with force. gsp! which is it?
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  • Posted by khalling 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    what the heck does your statement mean? now you know how I feel (whoa oh oh) everytime I read a huffpost article...welcome to my upside down world
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  • Posted by khalling 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    maph, really-Noam Chomsky? aaarrrrgggghhhh
    been there, done that all over this site. new playbook please.
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  • Posted by Rozar 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Exactly. It can work in any situation, majority rule is just one example. When you restrict another person's freedom, whether because you hand control of their life to a tyrant or to the majority, you never gain freedom by taking it away from others, you only gain control.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    "the majority are already at the highest level of freedom"
    I think he's saying in mob rule in general. The majority already have freedom. When they oppress unpopular ideas/people, net freedom decreases.
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  • Posted by edweaver 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Who are you talking about when you say the majority are already at the highest level of freedom?
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  • Posted by Rozar 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I'd agree, but the problem is they disguise it as more freedom for the individual. And the problem lies in what people think freedom means.

    If I'm allowed to generalize, people want the freedom to patronize any business, the freedom to express who they are wherever they are, and the freedom to not have to worry about their health and well being.

    But freedom doesn't mean any of those things. Freedom means the ability do what you want with your life without force or fraud. And your life is defined by your property. The things you have spent your time and energy to create are all apart of your life. The body you inhabit, the vehicle you drive, the house you live in all define your life. Freedom is and always will be your ability to control your life.

    But what's happening is people think there is more freedom in the world, when other people have their freedom restricted. It's always targeted at minorities, because if you give the majority control over the minorities life, suddenly the majority have more control. However, there is less freedom in the world at this point, because the majority are already at the highest level of freedom, they control their lives completely. All they do is reduce the amount of freedom in the world by taking it away from other for a net loss.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    "false premise that those on the political left want more control."
    Yes!! Bringing libertarianism into the supposed left/right battle, is a win for rightwing politics and a losing proposition for libertarianism. It's a win for enjoying the empty calories of condemning particular politicians. It's a lose for the cause of liberty.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    "this article is rhetoric without substance"
    Yes. It's almost like a parody of the nonsense that keeps libertarianism from succeeding. "Us conservatives want to beat on the brat with a baseball bat" Us just want to beat the other side? It almost sounds like the subject/object pronoun confusion is intentional, as if they're just making fun of the whole thing.
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  • Posted by Solver 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Fact, the collective on the political left wants more control of the individual. As far as I can see, they can't get enough of it. There is a much greater amount of control (and choices) that are taken away from individuals than are ever given back. History shows this clearly.
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    Posted by Maphesdus 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I agree with that completely. However, you seem to be operating on the false premise that those on the political left want more control. This is untrue. In fact, a significant number of leftists, such as Noam Chomsky, self-identify as anarchists, which is the exact opposite of authoritarian control.
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  • Posted by Maphesdus 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Resetting thinking requires evidence. This article contains none. It's just a series of statements and claims without any logical support or proof to back them up. It's the kind of dogma that will help reaffirm the opinions of people who already feel that way, but it does absolutely nothing to persuade people who don't.
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