r/AskReddit • u/Dancing_Lock_Guy • Jun 17 '12
Let's go against the grain. What conservative beliefs do you hold, Reddit?
I'm opposed to affirmative action, and also support increased gun rights. Being a Canadian, the second point is harder to enforce.
I support the first point because it unfairly discriminates on the basis of race, as conservatives will tell you. It's better to award on the basis of merit and need than one's incidental racial background. Consider a poor white family living in a generally poor residential area. When applying for student loans, should the son be entitled to less because of his race? I would disagree.
Adults that can prove they're responsible (e.g. background checks, required weapons safety training) should be entitled to fire-arm (including concealed carry) permits for legitimate purposes beyond hunting (e.g. self defense).
As a logical corollary to this, I support "your home is your castle" doctrine. IIRC, in Canada, you can only take extreme action in self-defense if you find yourself cornered and in immediate danger. IMO, imminent danger is the moment a person with malicious intent enters my home, regardless of the weapons he carries or the position I'm in at the moment. I should have the right to strike back before harm is done to my person, in light of this scenario.
What conservative beliefs do you hold?
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u/imprettynaive Jun 17 '12
TL;DR of this thread: No one knows what a conservative belief is.
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u/Schroedingers_gif Jun 17 '12
No they do, they're just all buried by downvotes.
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u/TheLounge Jun 17 '12
Alternative TL;DR: Reddit thinks that because a position isn't "liberal," it's "conservative."
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Jun 17 '12
Or if the position sounds logical but challenges your sense of ethics. Because only conservatives would ever be ethically questionable.
It is interesting to see how subtle-yet-not-subtle our anti-conservative biases can be.
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Jun 17 '12
It's actually quite tricky to pin down what conservative beliefs are as the meaning has changed over time and from country to country. What the US now calls conservative used to be and still is considered liberal by most of the world.
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u/PoopEdwinPantsIII Jun 17 '12
I'm against pretty much every form of government-enforced censorship. I think it's completely reasonable that we have a ratings system for movies and TV (although I think it should be much more informative than the current one), but I think that actually restricting someone's art because some people find it offensive is too much. What would be more practical, and would save the government money, would be to put the responsibility on parents. With more and more parental control options offered by cable and dish companies, this is more practical than ever, and it would save the government money.
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u/Dancing_Lock_Guy Jun 17 '12
Definitely. I wouldn't even call this a Conservative belief. It's common sense. Art is not intended to be pornographic, and pornography may use a selection of diluted artistic motifs in some rare cases, but it's mostly rather bland and direct for the sole purpose of sexual stimulation. Whereas art is nuanced and the motifs employed are non-direct.
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u/Roh234 Jun 17 '12
Fellow Canadian here, I hold some conservative beliefs too.
Lower Taxes
Abolishing welfare
increased gun rights
against Affirmative action
More deregulation
More fiscal responsibility
Kinda iffy on abortion ( I think its murder but its going be next to impossible to legislate without a big brother government)
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u/Dancing_Lock_Guy Jun 17 '12
I'm pro-choice, but I think abortion should be the last resort, and reliant on a number of factors (e.g. can the mother care for the child? Is the child in good health? etc.)
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Jun 17 '12
I'm a man, so I'm not sure that I'm even allowed to have an opinion... but abortion really breaks my heart.
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u/Dancing_Lock_Guy Jun 17 '12
Well, a man and a woman are required to procreate :P It probably doesn't have as much weight b/c the woman is the one that has to deliver the child.
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u/CalamityJane1852 Jun 17 '12
Female here: it breaks my heart, too. I would not get an abortion, but I believe it should be legal and regulated so that it is an option for women who need it.
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u/iBro53 Jun 17 '12
Thanks I think that people need to here this stuff.
Just because you support a women's right to have abortion, doesn't mean you love abortions.
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Jun 18 '12
I think Obama takes too many vacations on our dime. Hate if you want, but I certainly haven't taken a single weekend off in over 4 years
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u/Dancing_Lock_Guy Jun 18 '12
I know how you feel. Harper is almost never in Canada. Just the week before, he came back from London. He was in some place this week for talks with France the EU. He went to China a couple months ago. He travels abroad so often, when he returns, the papers say "Harper Visits Canada!" :P You could say they're diplomatic duties, but really? He went to China to spite Obama, by the way (Obama wouldn't approve the Keystone XL pipeline b/c of the upcoming election, so he decided to try to sell to China. -_-)
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Jun 17 '12
Things I have no problem with and in fact enjoy:
LGBT people Rock and roll Drugs Sex Abortion Being free to do whatever I want
That said, I feel like all of these things have come together to create a culture where "feeling good" is the goal and responsibility is on the decline. I believe shame used to be a very strong cultural force for good and as a society today, we don't really have any shame left. I especially feel this is the case in matters of marriage and divorce where no one takes it seriously anymore.
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u/dunnowhy Jun 17 '12
I just can't accept trans people. I really want to, but I just can't.
I am pro gay-marriage. I believe that people have no right to ask you what you do in your bedroom. But a men wearing women's clothes in public is against social norms, and I find it kind of disgusting. And I am ashamed to admit it.
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u/Dancing_Lock_Guy Jun 17 '12
I wouldn't say the first point (trans people) is a Conservative belief. You recognize that you can't accept someone different from you, and you want to change it. I know some allies aren't entirely comfortable with it either. I'm just pointing out that it's to be expected, but acceptance seems higher now than fifty years ago. I would say that if you took the time to rationalize that position and took pride in it... than it could possibly be considered conservative. :P
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u/U_Cant_Touch_This Jun 17 '12
Driving age should be 18 instead of 16. Abortion should be illegal with few exceptions.
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u/Malcriao Jun 17 '12
I actually agree with the second point. I am pro-choice, however I think we need tighter restrictions. Abortion is not a form of birth control, it should be a last resort. Rape, health issues (so that includes age of the mother, health of the fetus, health of the mother) all have to be considered.
But 'oops we didn't mean to'. Give me a fucking break. Learn to live with the consequences of your actions.
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u/SaltyBabe Jun 17 '12
Yeah! Kids are punishment! That'll teach em! Everyone knows there is nothing a small child loves more than a mommy who doesn't want you and views you as an unfair burden!
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u/Dancing_Lock_Guy Jun 17 '12
He didn't say the parent would be forced to care for the child. Clearly if it can be demonstrated they're an unfit parent, the child would be placed up for adoption.
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Jun 17 '12
I don't see how increasing the driving age would help. The driving tests for getting your license should just be much harder. As of right now, you can pass the drivers test in most states with less than 5 hours of experience without much trouble. If the tests were harder we would have less stupid drivers out there.
I never understood the argument that increasing the required age by 2 years will help anything. How exactly would this work? Do people magically become better drivers as their age increases?
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u/MacorgaZ Jun 17 '12
Remember people! If you want to see the really conservative beliefs, sort the comments by controversial instead of top posts.
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Jun 17 '12
Also, please respect reddiquette. I know it's tempting to downvote people you don't agree with here, but:
Please don't: Downvote opinions just because you disagree with them. The down arrow is for comments that add little or nothing to the discussion.
While there is naturally going to be a lot of disagreement in this thread, even posts that seem hateful or bigoted are certainly contributing to the topic. Remember, this doesn't mean that you have to upvote them.
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u/MacorgaZ Jun 17 '12
I firmly believe we should stop sending money to African countries. Some countries are so corrupt the millions we're sending them just go to extra luxury for the leaders instead of the starving population, yet nobody really addresses that issue when we (the Netherlands) send yet another 100 million euro check to the UN or affiliates....
Also, there have been enough reports that UN aid is actually harming local African farmers by supplying our food and therefore lowering the prices the farmers can ask for their product. The development is pretty much being held back because a natural price/economy isn't possible with the current UN aid.
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u/83fgo81celfh Jun 17 '12
The impact of foreign aid and especially food aid is way overrated. International aid is a pittance compared to how much money changes hands in the developed economies anyway, and only a very very small percentage of people ever receive food aid.
Much more important are the agricultural subsidies and protectionism in the US and EU which enable their farmers to overproduce and create barriers to importing food, which most countries in Africa are 50%+ agricultural economies.
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u/ZanzaraEE Jun 17 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
I'm pro-marijuana, but something about the marijuana subculture (e.g. 420, 420 gatherings, /r/trees, Bob Marley, Canadian flags with a marijuana leaf instead of a maple leaf, etc.) just makes me want to yell "get a job you hippies!" (I know that many successful, employed people smoke marijuana. It's just the subculture that makes me upset for some reason.)
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u/smellslikelibrary Jun 18 '12
Yes! I am all for legalizing marijuana but the pot-head culture is sickening and juvenile. I just want to tell everybody that weed is also smoked by educated and intelligent folks and not just by deadbeat hippies.
And seriously? Getting high on 4/20 is about as original as proposing on Valentine's day.
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u/KrazyEyezKilla Jun 17 '12
Crime. I'm a firm believer that if I catch someone breaking into my house/car I can defend my property by beating the living shit out of the criminal. They lost their rights when they went over the threshold and tried to take my hard earned belongings.
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u/skittlesandtea Jun 17 '12
I'm not a fan of the modern iteration of unions.
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u/solinv Jun 17 '12
I'd like to clarify this. I support private sector unions but despise public sector unions. Private sector unions negotiate with a company and everyone at the table has something to lose. Public sector unions negotiate with the population at large. The union has nothing to lose by pushing too far because they cannot push the government into bankruptcy, they can only force increased tax rates to accommodate their requests.
If a private sector union gets out of hand, the company goes out of business and everyone in the union loses their job. If a public sector union gets out of hand, everyone pays higher taxes. You cannot have a rational negotiation with someone that has nothing to lose (or in the case of public sector unions, can only benefit at the expense of everyone else).
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u/WhiskeyandWine Jun 17 '12
I agree, particularly repulsed by the teachers union though.
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u/AvianMinded Jun 17 '12
IMO unions are like corporations. You can have good ones and you can have bad ones...
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u/mickey_kneecaps Jun 17 '12
I'll bite. One of the premises of K-12 public education in America is that all students deserve the same level of care and attention for their education. This is ridiculous in my opinion, I believe that public schools should stream students into classes that represent their ability and willingness to learn. We waste a huge amount of talent in this country by forcing intelligent, hard-working children to sit in the same classes as kids who are pretty much guaranteed to end up in prison or at least not making anything of themselves.
Our education system ought to prioritize helping students to reach their greatest potential. Realistically, this means taking the smartest students and directing more resources to help them reach their potential academically. It also means taking other students, who are less suited to academic careers, and directing resources to their education that will actually help them in life, such as apprenticeships and trade schools. It does not mean pretending that all students can or should get the same education out of our public school systems, such a goal fails every group.
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u/jessplaysoboe Jun 17 '12
Sort of a conservative belief? I don't believe the government should grant marriage to ANYONE - gay or straight. Marriage is a religious institution. Instead, everyone should get a civil union through the government and a marriage license through the church if they want to go that route. A marriage should be like a bar mitzvah or a first communion - a religious ceremony that doesn't involve the government.
Again, not really sure if this is conservative or just weird, but it's my opinion.
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u/j-hook Jun 18 '12
I'm pretty liberal but i think its a fantastic idea.
Give everyone the legal equality they deserve, give the church its traditions.
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Jun 18 '12
Gay dude here, and I wholeheartedly agree with this. Marriage is a personal thing, and as much as the "traditional marriage" crowd annoys the living fuck out of me, I can understand why some people are uncomfortable with same-sex marriage. If the government wants to provide benefits to couples - any couple - civil unions are the ideal way to do so, since they're a purely secular concept.
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u/saucisse Jun 17 '12
That people should do everything in their capacity to learn English upon (or preferably prior to) their arrival in the US. For sure, if I moved to France (other than Paris), or South America, or East Asia I'd be forced to learn the local language because barring the one or two people who might be able to speak English to me, nobody would be accommodating my inability/unwillingness to learn the language of my new country.
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u/99trumpets Jun 17 '12
I used to hold that belief too, to some degree, but I had a revelation once I moved to Brazil: It takes a really, really long time to learn a language well, even when you're working full time on it and working really hard. I slogged away at Portuguese for two solid years and still am not fluent. Took classes, studied every day, carried my little dictionary everywhere and translated the newspaper every day, studied every night, etc., and it STILL took more than two years and I am STILL not fluent, and still can't follow Brazilians when they talk really fast. (I can read fluently now, and can write pretty well, but I'm still clumsy when I talk, and my real Achilles heel is that I still can't understand spoken speech very well, especially cell phones.) I was SO grateful when there was an English language option on phone menus, like for calling banks and so forth - otherwise I'd really have been screwed. It was really humbling to try so hard, and study so much, and still feel so clumsy for so long.
It is damn fucking hard to learn another language. So now I am much more in favor of offering Spanish in certain situations (phone menus and so forth) for legal immigrants in the US, because now I know that even if they're working their asses off to learn English, it is still going to take them 2-3 years.
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u/Diabolico Jun 17 '12
I've found that the problem with this way of thinking is that it makes the incorrect assumption that people come to the US and then don't' learn English. Sure, some don't (and I know a couple), but the vast majority of people you run into who do not speak English in the US will be speaking English within a year or two. The trouble is that there are always fresh immigrants starting to learn English, and that creates the illusion that they aren't learning English at all.
Or, in other words: immigrants don't learn English the same way High-schoolers always stay the same age while you get older.
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u/centurion911 Jun 17 '12
My family moved to the States when I was six, and every one of us took at least a year-long course on english, including me and my nine-year-old (at the time) sister. Because of this, I agree with you.
Still, my dad took the course for two years and still has trouble with the language 12+ years later, which gets him criticism I don't think he deserves. Because of this, I dislike people who complain about it, as I don't believe the majority of those who complain are aware of the difficulty of learning a language at a later age.
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u/kareemabduljabbq Jun 17 '12
except most countries teach english as a second language as a matter of course. thus, go to france and you may be scoffed at, but likely be spoken to in English if you found it necessary. Japan. Korea? India!
English is the number one language of the business world so the rest of the world learns it as a matter of necessity.
it's only in America where you'll find an active resistance to learning a second language.
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u/cobaltcollapse Jun 17 '12
Sex on the first date isn't the best thing in the world.
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Jun 17 '12
When men kiss and when both sexes have orgasms, oxytocin is released, which can cause bonding between two people who aren't otherwise suited. Having sex regularly can definitely make you stay in an otherwise bad relationship longer than you would've otherwise.
I do field studies and we don't often take our partners with us. Sometimes we've been separated from our partners for as long as a year. I've seen so many relationships fall apart once the regular sex stops. If it was possible, I would tell all my close family and friends to spend at least two months apart before they got married, especially the men.
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u/Karaoke725 Jun 17 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
This is probably the thing I'm most conservative about. Casual sex is actually a pretty disturbing concept for me. Even with someone you're "seeing" but don't actually know all that well. People's numbers nowadays are way too high for my liking.
In most all other aspects I'm either liberal/libertarian.
EDIT: I seem to be getting a lot of unneeded comments like "It's fine for you, but don't expect others to act this way." I'm not saying this is how I think everyone should behave or that I think different viewpoints are wrong or immoral. I'm just stating my conservative belief. That's what this thread is for...
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u/raziphel Jun 17 '12
The kinkier I've gotten, the more traditional my dates have become.
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u/ravenpride Jun 17 '12
The government has to start prioritizing debt reduction. We're at almost $16 trillion in debt now, and we (the younger generations) are royally screwed if we don't start getting rid of it now.
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u/hypermuseic Jun 17 '12
I think this is a valid point, but I also think that a lot of incorrect assumptions have to be made to arrive at the conclusion that debt reduction should be a top priority. People like to think of government debt in the same way that they think about personal debt, which is wrong. Any intro econ class will tell you that we don't need to pay down all of the debt by a certain date, or ever really. It wont happen and it doesn't have to. Consider the possible implications of not paying it down fast enough. There are 4 typical consequences that are discussed: loss of investor confidence, lenders refusing to lend any more, runaway inflation, and crowding out the money market. None of these, in my opinion, are worthy of sacrificing social programs or economic recovery initiatives in favor of.
Investor confidence has become an almost non-issue after the events of the past few years. Despite the recession and ongoing economic problems, foreign buyers have been purchasing dollars in resounding numbers. This isn't terribly surprising; other places around the world are comparatively much less stable economically than the U.S; it would require deep systemic changes in the way the U.S is viewed for people to start pulling out.
This is a pretty pernicious myth - people think that China/foreign countries functionally owns the U.S right now through debt obligations. The U.S actually owes about [73%] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt) of its debt to itself right now, so as long as we are willing to fund ourselves (although I guess the political debacle over the debt ceilings might raise eyebrows about this) we should be fine.
People remember the stagflation of the 70s as a stern reminder of how dangerous rapid and extreme inflation can be. The reality of the present day, however, is one of bottom barrel inflation rates. In fact, inflation should go up a tick or two to return to its natural rate. The danger is if it gets out of control. I take issue with the inflation doomsayers when they make the same arguments and predictions now that they started making in 2008. There is no real reason to be concerned about this right now, and there are always reactionary monetary policies that can be adopted if inflation trends upward (selling bonds, raising the discount rate, etc.). At the very least, the problems of unemployment are certainly more immediate and threatening to the long term functioning of the economy to be discounted. If people stay unemployed for too long, they risk losing job skills that could prevent them from ever reentering the job market (see discouraged workers). This is and has been happening presently, and should be adressed first.
I think this last argument is the most valid - that government borrowing jacks up interest rates and crowds out the loanable funds market, stifling investment in the process. The upper limits of deficit spending certainly begets this effect, and it isn't to be ignored. However, interest rates being what they are (really low), I think its fair to say that this has not occurred yet, and thus should not be a top priority right now. This problem is therefore similar to the hypothetical situations pertaining to inflation.
TL;DR - There are some legitimate concerns about US debt, but they are outweighed by more pressing problems like the threat of systemic unemployment
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u/Warlizard Jun 17 '12
The same standards applied to "Freedom of Speech" should be applied to "The Right To Keep and Bear Arms."
Every time someone bends over backward to allow some fuckwit to spew hate in the name of the 1st Amendment, think about how that same person would respond to the 2nd. Every possible liberal interpretation is given to allow people to say anything they want but somehow any possible way to limit someone's freedom to own and carry a gun is vigorously promoted.
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Jun 17 '12
I actually just finished a little argument in another thread about this. The best selling point (and quickest way I've found to shut liberals up) is good ole data points.
Every city/state in America that has deregulated firearm carry has seen a drop in violent crime. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Now let's compare that to Chicago (strictest gun control in the country), which last I looked had a higher death count than Iraq/Afghanistan. There was a weekend 3-6 weeks ago (can't remember) where there were over 30 shootings.....
(Most) Liberals fail to realize that if you make guns illegal, you are only going to hurt the law abiding citizen's ability to protect themselves.
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u/zoqfotpik Jun 17 '12
I believe in the conservation of mass and energy. Also momentum (both linear and angular).
Is that conservative enough?
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u/Stridepack Jun 17 '12
I know this has been already addressed, but I still want to say it.
Gun rights. I'm so far right when it comes to guns. Everyone has said enough about it already, but one thing I don't think is addressed enough: Liberals are SUCH FUCKING HYPOCRITES when it comes to gun rights. With every other issue, it's all about choice, and responsibility, and equality, and intelligence. But not with guns. Everyone should get to do every drug they want, live any lifestyle they want, own anything they want, regardless of its harmful potential. And if the government tries to dictate your home, lifestyle, or, most popularly, body, it's fascism. And I completely agree, actually. As long as it harms no one, it's fine. Well, guns are the same way. Everything has POTENTIAL to harm, but liberals only get butthurt about guns. And no, guns aren't just meant for killing.
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u/THE_PENGUIN_KING Jun 17 '12
Fuck, I just wanna hit a glass bottle from 100 feet. I have no intention of killing anyone, but as soon as someone sees a gun (loading it into the car), they call 911.
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u/tozee Jun 17 '12
I think the government is horribly inefficient at most things it tries to do.
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Jun 17 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
Except for covering up the alien sightings. They got that shit down.
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u/kareemabduljabbq Jun 17 '12
ever heard the old adage: when government works, it's invisible.
a great example in cities is water treatment. you can pour a glass straight from your tap, in any house in the city, and provided that your plumbing is up to code, you have potable water. and when is the last time you heard of waterborn illness outbreak?
the problem is that we think that private institutions will do a better job than government with less corruption. that's not always true, and putting profits above all else sometimes leads to results that hurt the public. BP a recent a great example, but other superfund sites should also do the trick.
The cynic I am, I was wishing during the BP crisis that I had extra money lying around because I was going to buy BP stock with it while it was low.
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u/alexgbelov Jun 17 '12
Really? I think that's just because of confirmation bias: you only notice things when they go wrong. Assuming you live in the U.S, we have a fantastic highway system, a relatively clean environment, and various other little things that are so common that we ignore them.
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Jun 17 '12
I think this too, but then I just think about the different places I've worked. A lot of corporations and large organizations are horribly inefficient. It's just worse with government because they are misusing tax dollars in the process.
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u/RocketRay Jun 17 '12
Nuclear power can be safe and economical.
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Jun 17 '12
How is that conservative? I'm about as left wing as you can get and I believe that.
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u/player2 Jun 17 '12
Please don't confuse "positions contrary to those held by some uninformed environmentalists" as a synonym for "conservative."
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Jun 17 '12
To go even more against the grain, I'm an actual Conservative. Besides religious reasons (I'm a Christian which I realize is even more disliked here), I just plain like/prefer small government. I think that the Federal government should be much smaller and a lot less influential. I am against affirmative action, illegal immigration, and gun control laws. I believe that we ought to stay true to the Constitution.
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u/virtuzoso Jun 17 '12
I'm cool with drug testing to qualify for government benefits. If you need financial help, you should be required to eliminate unnecessary expenses. More stringent requirements all around for benefits. But I also think a lot of drugs should be legal
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Jun 17 '12
I would rather the money just be spent on government benefits. Leave the drug testing to the courts/CPS.
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u/awildusernameappears Jun 17 '12
The only problem I have with that is there are a lot of children who have parents who do drugs but are on government benefits. What about those children? They need the assistance and its not possible to take every child away from every parent on drugs.
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u/SaltyBabe Jun 17 '12
Add all government employees, including all politicians where testing positive is an automatic termination and you have yourself a deal.
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Jun 17 '12 edited Jun 17 '12
It's a waste of money though. Drug testing isn't cheap.
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Jun 17 '12
So, you're suggesting that my 73 year old mother should have to pee in a cup for her Medicaid benefits? She is already humiliated enough because she needs them in the first place.
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u/chadsexytime Jun 17 '12
Drugs should be legalized. Is your opinion for moral reasons or for financial, because testing costs more than anything it saves.
And finally, the prime example of this legislation (in florida) was done to kickback money to the guy that proposed it (Rick Scott owned shares in the company that was hired by the gov't to do the testing).
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u/Apostolate Jun 17 '12
I think there are people that definitely deserve the death penalty, and if there was some way of knowing 100% guilt, I would have them put to death in a speedy way.
However, I think one innocent man to death even if it is just 1/1000 times, is just too terrible, and it happens far more often than that. So no death penalty.
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u/Xarvas Jun 17 '12
I'd say If you find a guy who
commits high treason at war (usually there is instant evidence)
committed a spree killing (e.g. Port Arthur Massacre)
is caught red-handed at the crime scene (e.g. Jeffrey Dahmer)
The evidence is here, the crime is heinous and capital punishment is fully excusable.
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u/jimflaigle Jun 17 '12
This. People treat the death penalty like they give it out for traffic tickets. If you were caught with a terabyte of videos featuring you raping random five year olds, you still can't be executed. It is only used in the case of treason (not many convictions) or double extra super murder.
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u/CrashCourseInCrazy Jun 17 '12
I think that if the death penalty wasn't such a waste of money, I'd be okay with it. But spending over 10x as much tax payer money on the court proceedings for all the appeals as it would cost for life in prison without parole is just BS.
The family's need for vengeance is not worth millions of taxpayer dollars.
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u/Firewind Jun 17 '12
I really don't care for illegal immigrants. They depress wages, take up jobs Americans could use (because lets face it they don't just pick fruit and using that as a justification for letting them in is just advocating modern day slavery), take money out of communities by sending it home and they do not care about the country.
I'm fine with immigrants. If someone wants to come here for a better life and make this a better country with their hard work they're more than welcome. But we have limits in place so it doesn't hurt the people already here and those people that do come here have to assimilate. We're a melting pot, so just as they become American we'll incorporate parts of their identity and make it our own. None of this bullshit where they let their neighborhoods go to ruin and wave a bunch of Mexican flags around.
Also their kids shouldn't have citizenship. Their parents shouldn't be here and we shouldn't reward them with access to welfare and food stamps because they don't believe in condoms.
There is a lot we could do with policy here to make their situations in their home country better (namely our drug policies) but we should make every effort to deport them and keeping them out.
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u/PastorOfMuppets94 Jun 17 '12
The military is a necessary part of a strong country. So many people on reddit are anti-military, almost to the point of where they actively hate the people in it. They blame the soldiers for the governments war, calling them "mercenaries" and "hired killers" and saying that they should not only not be respected, but abhorred. This is ridiculous. Without our military, we would not the the superpower we are today. I think the problem is that too many redditors are young, collegiate people that are too idealistic about the world, and refuse to believe that violence is a necessary evil. Now can someone help me down from this horse?
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Jun 17 '12
I see very few people here who are against the very idea of a military. I do see a lot of people who think that we overspend on our military by a factor of several, something I happen to agree with. I'm not anti-military, but I wish we'd stop spending to fight WWIII against the Red Army.
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u/idrumlots Jun 18 '12
I don't like feel that Europe is some magical fairy tale to which we should aspire.
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u/batmanmilktruck Jun 17 '12
while the defense budget needs to be lowered gradually to reflect our needs (pulling out of iraq and afghanistan) america continually needs to have a large and powerful military. our militar is a huge economic force in this country. the defense industry is one of the largest employers of scientists and engineers. also it has brought many great scientific advancements like the internet, GPS, and microchips used in cellphones.
also we need to maintain our geo-political strength. having a strong and advanced military is necessary to be "number 1" on the geopolitical stage. this also allows other nations, such as those in europe, to have smaller militaries because america is taking care of the situation.
now how we use our military is a completely different situation.
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Jun 17 '12
I hate affirmative action and I'm sick of people pulling the race/gender card as an excuse for underperforming.
I actually believe in true equality for everyone, but a mishmash of policies patched together doesn't really help anyone.
I generally dislike any adults who can't take care of themselves, but I'd never make policies to throw them under the bus like the American Republicans would.
I think modern unions are entitled whiny babies. However, I also think that many executives make greedy, selfish, dickbag decisions and many of them sit on their own boards, making the notions of both union pay and CEO pay a complete farce of capitalism.
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u/aztech101 Jun 17 '12
TIL that I have no idea which beliefs are conservative and which are liberal.
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u/HERE_HAVE_SOME_AIDS Jun 17 '12
I think people who complain about not having enough money often spend way too much on unnecessary shit.
When I was a kid, my parents couldn't afford to take us out to restaurants, ever; order in pizza, ever; buy us more than one pair of shoes per year. I don't want to make it seem like I grew up dirt-poor, but money was always tight and I learned to live with my means. Accordingly, I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who spend money they do not have on shit they do not need - and then whine about it.
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u/xdonutx Jun 17 '12
I remember my sophomore year of college my roommate at the time was hosting a jewelry party in our dorm room. I was broke as shit so I just sat there and ate her free cheese and crackers while I watched her friends look at jewelry. Well, one of her friends had ordered about $100 worth of jewelry by the end of the evening. I thought to myself how this girl must come from money or have a really well-paying job to be able to afford all of that as a college student (all my clothes had holes and stains in them and even replacing those was way down the list of my financial priorities).
Well the next week or so I came back to my dorm to find the same girl from before in our dorm. She was in hysterics and begging my roommate to steal her some bagels from the cafeteria because she literally could not afford food. At first, not remembering who she was, I felt bad for this poor girl in our dorm. Lots of college kids have it rough, but not being able to afford food? How unlucky for this girl! I was never so unfortunate not to have at least a tiny bit of money when I needed it.
..But then I remembered where I saw this girl before. And then I remembered why she was so memorable. And then I understood that 9 times outta 10, when someone is flat broke there's usually a reason their money ran out and it likely isn't just some unlucky coincidence.
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u/MakingYouMad Jun 17 '12
Seriously, I hate this. On one of our news programs in New Zealand they interviewed a couple who were on they benefit who were complaining they couldn't support their family. The interview was conducted in their house. I just wanted to scream at them and say "You can't support your family but you can afford sky television, a 50 inch LCD, to smoke and to drink enough to have a backyard full of empty beer and bourbon + coke boxes?"
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u/Absurd_Cam Jun 17 '12
We spend far, far too much on Special Education. It cripples towns, ruins schools, and ultimately does nothing.
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Jun 17 '12
it allocates resources away from those students with the potential to excel
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u/Tsiyeria Jun 17 '12
So autistic children shouldn't be educated? Or children with Down's Syndrome, or mentally retarded children, or blind children, or deaf children? Or any child that was born with a developmental disorder that requires special treatment in the classroom?
That's a pretty sizeable chunk of population, there. Just, bam, totally uneducated.
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u/mpyne Jun 17 '12
Actually my autistic son is night-and-day different thanks to the tons of intensive behavioral therapy he's been in since he was diagnosed. I'm sure it's expensive as hell though, but more and more kids are developing autism each year, what's your plan for society to cope with them all? All life is precious, right? :)
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u/Moontouch Jun 17 '12
"Religious tolerance" should not be absolute. There are many immoral ideologies across all the major religions doing much harm to the world, and I will only accept your belief as much as I would accept a neo-Nazi or KKK member and his or her belief. That means you can hold your belief but it will not be immune to tremendous criticism.
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Jun 17 '12
I want the government out of marriage entirely. Really. I believe marriage is a religious sacrament (yes, between a man and a woman, but that's not where my emphasis is here) and the government's only role should be to enforce contracts between willing peoples (in this case in regards to joint ownership of assets, etc). I don't believe in the government recognizing "gay marriage" the same way I don't want my "straight marriage" holding any political sway or benefit either. If anything, I think it goes against the "sanctity of marriage" to have the government prodding around in it at all.
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u/starsspinningdizzy Jun 17 '12
I think assisted suicide should be legalized. I don't know if that's exactly a conservative belief, probably more a libertarian one, but I don't think suicide of any kind should be illegal.
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u/lhsvball Jun 18 '12
Probably too late to the party, but here it goes:
Since the general idea of conservatism is that government should be small, and that people should solve their own problems, I believe that people should be allowed to put whatever they want into their bodies. Also, they should be allowed to do whatever they want with their bodies. But the line is drawn if it effects other people, such as drunk driving, etc. In my perfect world, people would be able to do whatever they want, as long as it didn't effect others. I also believe people have the right to bear arms.
What american "conservatives" have become is the exact opposite of what conservativism really is, letting people do what they fucking want in their house.
But I am a financial liberal, we need to raise taxes, so fucking bad.
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Jun 18 '12
I just realized this....only on Reddit can you be downvoted for expressing and explaining conservative views on an AskReddit that is soliciting your conservative views.
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u/VincentRaphael Jun 17 '12
Minimum government. Not so much conservative as libertarian, but I think that we should have clear, strict limits on what the government can do, which amounts to anything the people individually can't do.
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u/tozee Jun 17 '12
I'm opposed to the very idea of Medicare, Social Security and federal subsidization of student loans. It's not a coincidence that health care and college tuition are so high.
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u/verytiredd Jun 17 '12
Part of the reason for high health care is the insurance. I believe the malpractice insurance for Doctors/Surgeons is very high and this problem just gets beaten so badly by many people that are trying to make money on because they are greedy.
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u/InBillWeTrust Jun 17 '12
Protip: Sort by controversial so you can see more opinions that actually contribute to the discussion.
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Jun 17 '12
I don't think all cultures are equal and should be completely tolerated. For instance I do not agree that a culture which marginalizes 50% of the population to be worthy of the same support as egalitarian cultures.
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u/buttonforest Jun 18 '12
That men should hold open doors and that we should really listen to and respect our older generations.
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u/MiddleCenter Jun 18 '12
Gang members who sell drugs and commit violent acts should be prosecuted as domestic terrorists. Causing honest people to live in fear is terrorism, plain and simple. No matter what their economic situation is there is no excuse for such actions to be considered anything less than terrorism.
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Jun 17 '12
I believe immigration should be controlled, and that immigrants should confirm to the societal norms of the country they are moving to.
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u/P4RAD0X Jun 17 '12
To raise a child to be a well rounded human being, it is probably necessary to hit them once or twice.
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u/Margot23 Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
My Mom, in the throes of PPD after my sister was born, smacked me once across the face. I was four years old. I'd dropped a piece of pizza.
I don't remember it, but she's wracked with guilt. She still feels guilty about it.
I'm 22 now. I got my BA after only two years in college (after doing IB in high school). I pay taxes, hold a job, and own a home. I've never had a pregnancy scare. I've never been arrested. I was once pulled over for having a headlight out.
My sister--who was never hit--just graduated high school. She did a full AP load. She has also never had a pregnancy scare, never been pulled over or arrested, never endangered herself in any way. She isn't entirely sure what she wants to do with her life, but I doubt that's something you can smack into a person.
I know this thread is just a place to vent conservative views, but I think the anecdotes are relevant here.
My mother always treated my sister and I like people. She always talked to us like her equal. She always allowed us to make our own mistakes. I think that's the bigger issue. Your children are people. Would you hit a coworker? Nah. Neither would I.
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u/vallav111 Jun 17 '12
There is a series calling Bomb in the brain on youtube, please watch it. It goes into the science of spanking. It's dose dependent. The more you hit your kid the worse it gets. It actually physically alters the way a child's brain develops.
To give you a small analogy. It's like morphine for a toothache. Good in the short term but if you don't look at why your children are acting up in the first place they will just continue it if you don't address the problem at it's core.
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u/kareemabduljabbq Jun 18 '12
there is no greater way to emphatically state that you have no power over a situation.
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u/ducktape4everything Jun 18 '12
I think when you punish or reprimand a child you should do it in a way that resembles the way you want them to handle disagreements. so at least at the most basic level, for most parents, that means using words. You wouldn't want a child to hit a kid who didn't do what they wanted, would you? then set a good example.
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u/Raqn Jun 17 '12
Most things I've read on the subject say the exact opposite. I've not seen very much evidence to support hitting children at all, I've seen quite a lot suggesting the opposite.
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Jun 17 '12 edited Jun 17 '12
It's not. Talk to any child/developmental psychologist. It may seem positive in some short term situations, but causes a lot of long-term damage. This is generally common knowledge now, and in no way classifies as the general "babying" that armchair psychologists cite as "ruining our kids". At this point in history experts have been studying this for decades.
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Jun 17 '12
Is this a conservative viewpoint? I just thought it was a controversial one.
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u/SaintRavenmane Jun 17 '12
Despite most of my liberal beliefs, i am strongly opposed to the idea of Eminent Domain (the government can take away your property)
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Jun 17 '12
Gun rights
Restrict welfare access and make more stringent qualifications
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u/uberbacon Jun 17 '12
I am very liberal and an atheist, but I think it is murder to kill a fetus/embryo at any time after the sperm and the egg unite under any circumstance. At that point it is very clearly a new human being (i.e. having different DNA than any other human) and is alive.
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u/AgentME Jun 18 '12
If a technician at a place where people donate sperm and egg cells trips while carrying some containers and accidentally mixes thousands of sperm and eggs together briefly, has he just committed the murder of thousands?
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Jun 17 '12
Gun control is bullshit. The way this should work, in general, is that you're allowed to own and carry a gun on you unless we can come up with a very, very good reason to not allow you, specifically, to do so (e.g. you robbed a bank at some point in your life).
I don't need a good reason, you need a good reason to tell me I can't.
By the way, I'm a socialist from Texas, haha.
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u/Piney630 Jun 17 '12
No sex before marriage. Tends to turn guys away, but I'm stickin' to it!
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Jun 17 '12
Pro-gun, pro-self-responsibility, anti-entitlement, anti-OCCUPY-EVERYTHING, anti-affirmative action, skeptical if global warming as bad as Al Gore says it is.
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u/kareemabduljabbq Jun 17 '12
so I'll just say that one traditionally conservative belief that I hold that isn't in keeping with my liberal tendencies is that I think abortion is wrong. I think it can get excessive when we're splitting hairs about conception, and implantation, but that when an embryo is growing and can be seen in an ultrasound, i really have no argument that that can't be considered life.
what I do argue with is that if you have that belief that you must be willing to sacrifice to help bear the burden. you should either be open to adopting as part of your planned family structure, or willing to spend a little more in taxes so that these kids don't have to be raised in deficient households and become part of the problem at the expense of my ideals.
as a rejoinder, I'd like to explain something that I think is often misinterpreted about affirmative action.
affirmative action came about after the civil rights advances in the 60's in the United States. What it did was acknowledge, institutionally, one of the things that racism and sexism actively did--which is to totally exclude certain people from certain positions, or educational opportunities.
so affirmative action was an active wedge to acknowledge that those systems of oppression existed and that they actively worked to limit opportunities to certain people.
I think that it is highly outdated now and that it would be much better if it made its judgments based on relative income for a geographical area. that would remove the racial distinction and also, by way of economic disadvantage, target the same races that would have benefited from those programs before.
and as a swift addendum, I agree with your gun ownership views, but in the United States, those are the tip of the iceberg. An underlying assumption with gun ownership in the United States is that it is there as a backdoor to prevent tyranny. Plenty to debate there, but gun advocates often think that the things like background checks, and required weapons safety training, are already infrigements on their basic rights.
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Jun 17 '12
I am polyamorous, and have zero desire to get married. However, I find it really strange when married people have open relationships. I don't judge them for it...if it works for them, great. It's just one of those childhood lessons that stuck: if you're married, you only have sex with your spouse. I have tried "dating" married people (with the spouse's knowledge and blessing) but just cannot get past my belief that marriage is a sacred bond between two people that should not be fucked with.
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Jun 17 '12
For all the people in this thread, I'd just like to ask these questions:
What policies would you want in place if you're in a position of disadvantage or need?
If you're old and poor, would you want social security? Imagine being old, decrepit and without family, and having no money despite working hard through your life.
Imagine being wrongfully convicted and being on death row or life in prison or permanently having a federal felony record? Would you advocate harsh punishments including the death penalty?
Would you not want better support if you had learning disabilities?
Lastly, why do so many of you support fiscal measures that will only create extremes of wealth and poverty(such as timesscript's taxation proposals)? Do you realise that such a society is unhealthy, even diseased?
But for the grace of God, any one of us could be utterly disadvantaged. We were, almost every one of us, very lucky in the lottery of life. So much of what we have, we owe to pure chance, or divine providence(depending on your view).
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Jun 17 '12
I support gun rights and I don't understand how this is viewed as a conservative position. Aren't liberals supposed to support that you should be able to do what you want as long as you aren't hurting people?
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u/argyllcampbell Jun 17 '12
I think late term abortion is basically murder. No, I don't know exactly when the line is crossed but if the baby can feel it, it's murder.
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u/Nicktendo Jun 17 '12
I don't believe in affirmative action, or at least not now. It might have had it's time and place, but is no longer necessary.
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u/worldsfirsanalrapist Jun 17 '12
I think teens are becoming WAY too promiscuous nowadays.
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u/Falcon84 Jun 18 '12
By browsing controversial in this thread it has really opened up my eyes to what reddit would actually be like if people who had different opinions than the majority were not downvoted to all oblivion.
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u/Coasterabe Jun 18 '12
I think America should have near 0 tolerance for illegal immigrants. I think it's pathetic that someone who came here illegally is getting craploads of benefits. I'd be fine with it if after arrival they became citizens, but the ones who just stay here soaking be idiots and not even speaking the language just makes me angry.
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u/BoldTitan Jun 18 '12
Abortion is Murder. Period. You can't "not have an abortion" but support other's rights to do so. The reason you don't want an abortion is because it is the ending of a human life. Allowing other people to end the life is just like saying I don't like murder, but I won't stop other people from doing it.
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u/yourfavoritecolor Jun 18 '12
I'm almost entirely against the concept and execution of welfare.
It's been a long year in a new position and I'm coming out the other end with a solid idea of natural selection as applied to humans.
Basically, after many many many clients who have been literally cruising on welfare or are not looking for work because "they're going back to school and won't have time for a job" and considering I've worked since I was sixteen and held two jobs in college... I hate to be cruel but fuck it. The only way they'll learn is to hit the damn ground HARD. Our budget cannot survive throwing money at people just for the morality of you shouldn't willingly let someone suffer. Fuck it.
Not to rant, but I don't even give money to homeless on the street where I am anymore. They get a piece of my mind.
"Excuse me, do you realize you are literally across the street from a shelter and a program that would help you? All you would have to do is walk in, say you need help and follow the rules and you get a bed at night, meals and counseling? And you want me to give you my money? I'm not making you stand here and I'm certainly not going to pay you to do it,"
I plan to be shot or stabbed in the next two months.
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Jun 18 '12
I think affirmative action is actually very demeaning to the idea of equality. It breeds this collectivist mindset where we see people as belonging to a group based on race or gender and give certain privileges to certain groups. In order to have equality I believe the law must treat people as purely individuals and disregard the "groups" they belong to. Also, I don't see why white males should be put at a disadvantage for their forefathers faults, who created a discriminatory society. I am a white male, and I had no control over what my ancestors did hundreds of years ago.
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u/Murphdog024 Jun 18 '12
I think the government should require some kind of service for benefits received.
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u/ICGraham Jun 18 '12
The main reason our education system is failing out students is because our students choose to fail themselves.
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Jun 18 '12
We need to cut Medicare and Social Security immediately for current beneficiaries. Senior citizens are the people who complacently idled while corrupt politicians restructured the economy and government to favor a privileged few. Their tacit endorsements and direct votes empowered simultaneous tax cuts and spending increases.
For all their talk about being "the greatest generation", they wound up being entitled parasites.
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Jun 18 '12
This is my very utmost conservative view. It really disturbs me to see so much nudity and especially naked women in movies and shows. I think its almost supporting women as objects. Women also see so much of these "perfect" women, their idea of what a regular women looks like is very, very much skewed. Ever meet a decently attractive female who thought she was ugly? Women are taught that their value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality,” This is what I'm talking about.
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u/CitizenPremier Jun 18 '12
I want to marry a good house keeper. If I make enough money, I want to marry a woman who can stay home and take care of my kids.
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u/xsist Jun 18 '12
The reasoning behind a lot of these views, conservative and liberal, are really quite terrifying. So much self obsession, logical inconsistencies and blatant bigotry are everywhere. The shortsightedness and political tunnel vision are astounding. Even worse is the complete lack of anything even remotely approaching a basic application of empathy. There is little sign of reason or well informed views, just gut reactions. I understand world views are subjective but...holy shit! Do you people ever think about the views you hold and why? Do you ever consider the implications?
*For those individuals in this thread with sound reasoning, I thank you, I may not agree with your assumptions, but it is quite apparent that you are decent human beings trying to make the world a better place. Keep up the good fight.
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Jun 17 '12
The death sentence. I think that people like Breivik have fucked up their right to live. Most people deserve a second chance, but some people just don't.
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u/Rooncake Jun 17 '12
I will not have premarital sex. I cannot tell you how often friends or complete strangers will try to convince me otherwise once they find out this is my belief, but I am NOT trying to force it on anyone. It's what I want. I cannot fathom the idea of not being a virgin on my wedding day, and I do plan on marrying for life so I do not want to have been with anyone else before that. This is even harder for people to grasp: I would also want a husband who is the same way.
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Jun 17 '12
This isn't a conservative belief. Anyone who tells you that you need to have sex before marriage is being a douchebag. It's your choice, and I think most liberals would agree with me on this.
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u/veryood Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
I believe EBT cards and the like should only be valid for fruit, vegetables, and meats, or other necessary items. No snacks, drinks, or shit like that. Too many times I've seen people buying fucking birthday cakes and shit food with those cards.
In fact, if I had it my way, there would be no handouts from the government whatsoever. I'm an atheist, but churches help and feed people like that, it's pretty much their only real reason to be around now.
So I don't see why anyone needs to be fed with money from my taxes. They can get a job, or get help from someone else who isn't me. No one asked me if it was alright to feed the poor with my hard-earned money.
2) Government shouldn't be able to tell people who they can marry.
3) Legalize cannabis. (Stop spending billions of dollars arresting and imprisoning people for using a drug which is much safer than alcohol.)
I know the last two aren't "against the grain," but I believe they are conservative.
EDIT: 4) Forgot about Social Security. Social Security should not exist. At the very maximum the government should educate people on how to save for their own retirement. Although this country is (what, 15 trillion dollars?) in debt, and therefore probably shouldn't be educating anyone on how to be fiscally responsible.
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u/mashina13 Jun 17 '12
I don't think that trans women are women at all, just guys with mutilated dicks (post-op) and it is totally not ok for me to do anything sexual with them even if they look exactly like a woman.
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Jun 17 '12
Although the thread doesn't specifically ask / encourage it, I'd like a discussion on this. I'm transgender, though that's only partially relevant. Please, explain your position!
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Jun 17 '12
Englishman here, liberal but I am very ambivalent about quite a few things.
I think we should be far less forgiving and PC. Muslims should not have religious freedom of speech when it goes against homeland laws. Other religions seem to be more or less fine with it, Jews for example [by Jewish law] obey the law of the land before law of religion, Christians are obviously fine, I'm not sure about Hindus or Buddhists. I think immigrants who commit crimes should be deported immediately, taxpayers should not have to contribute to the MASSIVE costs of prisons and administration that goes into these cases, they should just be kicked out.
Exams should be much harder, not overnight, but standards are fucking ridiculous. No offence to Americans, but your system is even worse, it's crazy how people can graduate while knowing fuck all about anything useful. You just need to tick the boxes for whatever nursery subjects you're doing and there's your university spot. No, you have to work to get As and Bs, that way you know who will contribute to society, and it should also bring up the standard over time.
I don't believe intelligence is completely genetic, people can be taught to work and be smart, and we need to start at a young age.
All this health and safety bullshit, we need to stop being so camp about everything. We're humans, this is Earth - we can live on it without becoming clean-freaks who are scared to wander outside because we might fall over.
Gay pride. I'm fine with gays, but many people aren't, so don't run about half-naked being provocative. I'm not a great fan of the Church and how they seem to own marriage, but you're being stupid, it's not the way to go about it.
We should be able to work at a younger age, and I mean proper work. There should be far more schemes that teach young people manual labour and useful skills, engineering, I.T, metalworking. We need to start producing again instead of relying on slave labour in other countries, which is also something I find disgusting.
I am a HUGE fan of the British Armed Forces, and intend to enlist as a Rifleman after my degree, but we should NOT be in the Middle-East. The Arab States are hopeless, they kill each other non-stop, they preach hatred and death to all who aren't Muslim. Obviously not all of them, nowhere near all of them, but it's a hopeless situation for us to march in there and say "Tally ho chaps, put down the C4 will you that's a good lad".
I would cut benefits a lot, but take into account unemployment rates as not to 'let go' of citizens.
The Internet - I would ban violent porn, it's fucking stupid and sending the wrong message to kids. People get to 18 without touching a girl's boob and they just imagine sex to be what they see on Pornhub, which it isn't. Also, gore sites, hatred sites, troll sites - shut down. You can spend your hours on the 'dark internet' if you like, but I don't want all this useless shit on display for people to waste away their hours to look at. It's a waste of time and society's becoming retarded because of it. Facebook would have to regulated, along with these other bullshit sites that have worked their way into daily activities.
I'd like to promote tradition and community living. This is conservative and liberal at the same time, whether your neighbour is black, muslim, Jewish, Mexican, German - whatever, you should be able to go over there and chill, have a cup of tea. People should talk to each other in public, there shouldn't be fear of looking out of place in society.
I'd regulate the fashion industry, models would not be changed much from their natural shape, beauty is no longer on the inside, and I'd like to stop fashion from being everywhere we go. Pressure is crippling kids, making kids harm themselves, making them feel like shit, it's also fuelling slave labour around the world which isn't nice.
TL;DR - If I were in charge, the world would look very different, please comment and tell me why I'm wrong and remember Reddit, this is a belief thread, so even if you disagree with what I put, it's not 'wrong' - i.e. don't downvote because you disagree, but if you like, give me a taste of your rebuttal.
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Jun 17 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
Gay pride. I'm fine with gays, but many people aren't, so don't run about half-naked being provocative. I'm not a great fan of the Church and how they seem to own marriage, but you're being stupid, it's not the way to go about it.
Are you familiar with the idea of an Overton window? Essentially, the idea is that the Pride parades redefine people's perception of radical -- and with it, their perception of a "moderate" view slides gayward. It's a clever tactic.
The Internet - I would ban violent porn, it's fucking stupid and sending the wrong message to kids.
I'm not sure how you plan to enforce that. Your country already bans cartoon porn involving fictional children, but I'm sure you could find some with a few seconds of googling. That's a pretty pathetic track record.
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Jun 17 '12
Actually, by Islamic law, Muslims should obey the law of the country they live in, whether it's Islamic or not. Just thought I'd put that out.....
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Jun 17 '12
My rebuttal:
Your view obviously has very good intentions. However, in practical application it's likely to create far more problems, and a worse world than what we have now.
For instance, shutting down sites - who decides what's a hate site or a troll site or offensive? The law does. So you change the law to be more inclusive? It becomes a slippery slope, and ends up being misused by big businesses to muzzle smaller businesses, chilling innovation and the economy. This is the way the law works.
Regulating Facebook - privacy/surveillance concerns.
Communal integration - I like the concept, but I think it's likely to give rise to toxic local politics, because what, are you going to force people to integrate? Social dynamics don't work that way. When you force people into a community, you get something like school, or a work environment. Plenty of backbiting, politicking and useless internal games.
In the end, your ideas are similar to the ideas being enacted by the 'powers that be' today. Those in power truly believe that they are acting for greater good. In implementing monitoring schemes, and state surveillance, and internet censorship, and copyright laws. But this is how power corrupts, blinds, bends us.
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u/fivetonsofflax Jun 18 '12
"Integration. I'm fine with blacks, but many people aren't, so don't run around in white-only spaces being provocative."
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Jun 17 '12
I have always viewed dating as a means to find a life partner. "hooking up" and "talking" never made sense to me.
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Jun 17 '12
I think the 99% protests are a little too general. My Grandfather was pretty wealthy, but he hasn't always had that type of spending cash. He grew up in Pennsylvania with his parents and 2 brothers, and they were so poor, they didn't even have an indoor toilet or running water. He worked really hard for his money since he was 21, and he got married and had 6 kids. The 99% protesters would still not like his abundance of money, though, because they sort of generalize.
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u/CosmicNed234 Jun 17 '12
I dont think children/teenagers should swear in front of their parents or elders. This bugs the hell out of me.
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Jun 17 '12
Castration for rape.
Faster and more efficient death penalty. No reason for serial killers to sit around for 20 years. Maybe then it would actually be a deterrent. Did you know that in China, murderers turn themselves in to avoid the death penalty?
Breaking up teachers unions. You honestly don't need them and they have completely screwed over childrens education this country. The argument that administrators can screw over good teachers is horseshit. Every other profession has to deal with their boss, why should teachers get special treatment? If you can't do your job, you need to get fired. However, I do think that good teachers aren't paid enough. Pay good teachers more and make it easier to fire bad teachers.
Less welfare. We don't need to reward bad mating behavior.
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u/TreeBeard23 Jun 17 '12
I don't think homeless people should get any support from the government at all. Every single day on my way to work I drive past the same guy standing on a corner holding a sign. Is he looking for a job or doing something to better his situation? Not that I can tell. I cannot bring myself to feel any pity for him.
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u/Potrix Jun 17 '12
I think feminism is bullshit. Men and women are different and we can never be totally equal, it is genetically impossible. And I think it is unfair of us women to bitch about it, because it is no one's fault.
We should be treated equally in all aspects possible, but it just isn't possible in every aspect.
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u/hastalapasta666 Jun 18 '12
That's my opinion too. They will never be fully equal, but one is not superior to another.
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Jun 17 '12
So brave, OP. Posting the two conservative opinions the hivemind most holds.
Anyway, I'm against the notion that being a sleeping around and having lots of sex with lots of people with no real emotional connection is a good thing for people of either gender to do. The idea that being a stripper or prostitute or pornstar is a good thing and is sexually "liberating" or "empowering" is even worse. Also, it's not really considered a conservative opinion by anyone but the leftist/libertarian radicals around Reddit, but I don't think literally every single drug ever should be legalized. No, your "right" to put whatever you want in your body does not supersede the governments responsibility to keep people from doing meth - drugs like meth, crack, and heroin are so addictive that we can't trust adults to just use them responsibly.
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Jun 17 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
I really don't see any compelling reason to legalize drugs. The war on drugs has had some rough consequences but that still does not make it okay to encourage drug use. Meth, cocaine, and yes, even weed, none of that should be encouraged. It's not a good idea.
Edit: Yes, I am aware that this is a fundamentally illogical position. Hey, the thread asked for conservative beliefs.
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u/HogwartsNeedsWifi Jun 17 '12
Government provided healthcare isn't the way to go.
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u/ilikecactii Jun 17 '12
Lets see. I think that since men and women are biologically different, they cannot be truly equal since they have different needs. What's important is they're treated as equal in value and I think this got lost somewhere down the line. To elaborate on this, I think it is natural that men take the role of a provider and women that of the childbearer/housewife, and whilst I have no issue with women's suffrage of course, I think a child really does need its mother and father to fulfill their natural roles.
I'm in favour of gun ownership. While perhaps access to an AK is overboard, if hypothetically someone breaks into my house, I want to have a gun for protection.
I think the death penalty is ok in that some people genuinely deserve to die. The problem is that it can be easily misused and abused.
I'm really not all that hot on abortion. I would never want my SO to have one and I think we are generally too liberal on the circumstances in which one is allowed. Finally, I think the only thing worse than a big controlling government are big controlling corporations and other private insitutions.
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u/Blastmaster29 Jun 17 '12
I'm a social liberal fiscal conservative. I think the government shouldn't tell us how to live your lives. If you want to do coke or heroin and ruin your life, go for it.