Why are conservatives so negative?

[Arkansota]

They actually have some really great ideas, but their negativity scares people away.

[SolemnBoy]

Are they? In my opinion they're hardly progressive and I have lots of bad associations to the word but I haven't really noticed any negativity related to convervatism. Sometimes I guess they blow problems way out of proportion but that's not a problem of theirs alone.

[Pix]

If you're willing to read up on it then this book explains it:

Prometheus Rising

Your librarian (reference librarian if your library has one) can get it for you from another library (typically for a dollar or less, sometimes even free) if your library doesn't have it. I believe it's on at Google Books, too (not sure if it has the helpful illustrations or not). If you ILL (Inter Library Loan) it and they want the ISBN then it's 978-1561840564.

As best I recall, and very short & sweet, conservatives tend to be fearful of change, and I believe had something to do with the home not being safe when young which caused their brains to fear the unknown and thus change (and sometimes authority which translates into the more anti-government kind rather than pro-cop/military kind, but most want a "strong daddy" to take scare away all the scary others). They tended to identify more with their "tribal circuits" (nationality, race, religion, etc) than normal as well, perhaps an outgrowth of wanting to "stay home where it's safe." That's just general, of course.

That doesn't include Libertarians, not even the truly conservative ones...but then generally speaking I don't find Libertarians to be particularly negative as the more authoritarian conservatives, though more often than not they're on the naive side about human nature (maybe that comes with the territory of being positive :tongue: ).

Again, this is all general ("the way to bet") rather than intended for every single individual who adopts those labels.

[starbelly]

I don't have a problem with conservatives in their fiscal beliefs— I actually think that some of them are fairly reasonable. What's beyond me though are their outlandish archaic social ideas. The extreme religious right has infiltrated the Republican party and conservatism in general and has made its own enterprise within it, which I think has destroyed their party. They're more focused on banning gay marriages and obsessing over abortion to care about anything else. Granted, not ALL Republicans/conservatives are gay-hating holy rollers, but there's a dominant attitude that runs through the party because of the religious infiltration.

[Lilitu]

I don't really see the negativity in conservatism.

Personally, I just think that liberalism tends to be quite idealist and even quite a bit aerie-faerie which contrasts with the realism and caution of conservatism. This I think is what makes conservatism seem negative.

I am conservative but I don't necessarily have to adhere to what other conservatives may believe, and I think everyone needs to be careful not to confuse being cautious with being negative, and not to confuse adherence to tradition with religious zeal.

[hank]

I actually tend to be more conservative. But something I notice here in the United states at least. Conservatives are reluctant to accept and make equal gay people, specifically gay men.

[Genersis]

I'm not so sure they are that negative.
Seems to me progressives can be pretty negative when there is a lack of substantial progressive change.
Conservatives are normally negative when things change from the staus quo.

I guess things are constantly changing, including the status quo, so I guess that could play a part in the perceived higher negativity, but personally, I think any differences between the level of conservative negativity, and that of other political orientations, is negligible.

[VileKyle]

People of all beliefs are negative. It's not just conservatives. That just has to do with your trend of political beliefs. People just get negative when things don't go their way. Do you know what I think? Fuck politics and stay happy.

[Pix]

I've noticed a lot of negativity in conservatives in general that exceed that of other political orientations, even when they unquestionably controlled nearly everything (East Texas Bible Belt, where despite nearly total social and political control were driven by fear, sometimes even apocalyptic in nature--at least the fundies). Though you can be a conservative Democrat in the US, I understand they're pretty common in the South West.

That said, anyone PASSIONATE about politics of any persuasion have a tendency to be sensitive and negative (sky is falling unless their political visions are realized).

And I mean the people, the philosophies associated with any are pretty much neutral and don't require either a positive or negative attitude. Positive conservatives I've known don't come off as "less conservative" and "the sky is falling" liberals don't come off as less liberal to me. But I have noticed that conservatives tend to be far more judgmental and uptight than liberals, and on the net conservatives are usually the more confrontational and likely to initiate hostilities where it was inappropriate (even back when Bush was POTUS). And btw, my observations don't come from having sympathy with liberal beliefs, either, I've gotten plenty of antipathy from both conservatives and liberals in my life and don't consider myself to be either one.

[gilhooly]

The attacks on gays started with Anita Bryant, Pat Buchanon and other supporters of Ronald Reagan. People at the time pointed out that Reagan had allowed men to sleep together in the Lincoln bedroom. Abe Lincoln's love letters to a man are why gay Republicans call themselves Log Cabin Republicans.

The most truly conservative in the traditional sense was Barry Goldwater in 1964. Without a seconds hesitation, Goldwater denounced every form of homophobia to be undemocratic and he would rid the Republicans of gay bashers.

I loved Barry for taking that stand. I worked my ass off in 1964 to get Goldwater elected. The price was not free for me. My family had been staunch supporters of the Democrats and the New Deal from 1932. I was labelled a turncoat because the Irish were supposed to vote for the Democrats.

Richard Nixon had a lot of gay staffers even in the White House. So I liked and voted for Richard Nixon.

The really sick minds that control the right wing are creeps like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and those right wing freaks on radio, Shock jocks as they like to call themselves. The more hatred they spew, the bigger their audience.

I would love to see a return to traditional Republican values. Hard work is the long term cure for this economy.

Why they let a right wing zoo have control over that party is something I will never understand. I am libertarian on most social issues and believe the government should be forced to pay for its stupid policies. Right now, we do nothing. We spend more. We take in less. The arithmetic just doesn't work. If they are trying to destroy the US economy, they are all ding a good job at that.