Leftists

[GhostWriter16]

Combine this with the fact madviking lives in Northern Virginia (which according to some people - John McCain, looking at you - is communist Europe).

Mccain isn't a real conservative, though he is for purposes of this thread.

Also, fixed it for you

Anyhow, according to madviking's thing, he lives in Germnay, anyway, what I said makes sense in the US.

None of your statements make sense anywhere.



Aww crap Owen you exposed our secrets!

It was partly a joke and partly an attempt to get Owen to explain. Yes, I think they are the same, but that wasn't the point.

 

[Red Door]

Mccain isn't a real conservative, though he is for purposes of this thread.

Also, fixed it for you

Anyhow, according to madviking's thing, he lives in Germnay, anyway, what I said makes sense in the US.



It was partly a joke and partly an attempt to get Owen to explain. Yes, I think they are the same, but that wasn't the point.

I don't know why I'm wasting my time arguing for madviking (no offense madviking, you're worth my time any day ), but yeah, he really lives in Northern Virginia. In fact, if you looked at his past location tags, it would say so. My avatar is a hyena. That doesn't mean I'm a hyena. Yours is Abraham Lincoln. That doesn't make you Abraham Lincoln.

 

[Skwink]

I am pretty Conservative, even though I am a teen with two Left parents. Even though I am young, I am embarrassed by people like Sarah Palin, and Glen Beck.

 

[GhostWriter16]

I don't know why I'm wasting my time arguing for madviking (no offense madviking, you're worth my time any day ), but yeah, he really lives in Northern Virginia. In fact, if you looked at his past location tags, it would say so. My avatar is a hyena. That doesn't mean I'm a hyena. Yours is Abraham Lincoln. That doesn't make you Abraham Lincoln.

But I thought you were a hyena and I was Lincoln

JK. Seriously, not a big deal. The terms do make sense though, they are common in the US.

I am pretty Conservative, even though I am a teen with two Left parents. Even though I am young, I am embarrassed by people like Sarah Palin, and Glen Beck.

If they embarass you, you aren't really conservative.

 

[Skwink]

Well I guess I am a different kind of Conservative then you. I think a lot of what are saying is stupid, but I am still Conservative. I still have to say I laughed when Sarah said she could see Russia out her backyard LOL.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Well I guess I am a different kind of Conservative then you. I think a lot of what are saying is stupid, but I am still Conservative. I still have to say I laughed when Sarah said she could see Russia out her backyard LOL.

I'm sure it was a joke.

What kind of conservative are you?

 

[JollyRoger]

Sarah couldn't even see her daughter and Levi making out from her back door.

 

[Traitorfish]

Again, you've said you are a social democrat and a socialist. Admitting their the same thing are we?

"Social democrat" is an ambiguous term, and it possess two distinct-yet-related meanings. A "political social democrat", for want of a better term, is one who pursues their aims through non-radical reformist socialism making use of social capitalism; a reaction to circumstances, rather than an ideology in itself. An "ideological social democrat" is one who adheres to a social democratic ideology, typically a form of Third Way economics combined with liberal democracy. The French Communist Party are the former, pursuing a communist ideology through social democratic politics, while the British Labour party are (for the most part) the latter, pursuing a Third Way system of regulated capitalism and social welfare.
Many individuals will identify themselves by both ideology and immediate politics, because both are useful in different ways. It's simply the case that, for the majority of individuals, the two are broadly the same, and so terms such as "social democrat" become awkwardly condensed into a lumpy amalgamation of the two.

 

[Dudemeister]

that's not two distinct ideologies, it's left and right wing social democrats you described.

 

[Skwink]

3000, do you watch a lot of Glen Beck? You have a quote in your sig, and say your from the Socialist States of America. I am a Conservative who doesn't think Obama is Socialist, but I still am a conservative. I guess I am a Conservative who likes small government. Still, Sarah is a great comedian!

 

[Ajidica]

Bristol Palin. Best argument against abstinence only sex ed!

Skwink: Its nice to know there are still some sane conservatives out there. I was beginning to think they were a dieing breed.

 

[Skwink]

Bristol Palin. Best argument against abstinence only sex ed!

Skwink: Its nice to know there are still some sane conservatives out there. I was beginning to think they were a dieing breed.

Thanks for getting what I'm saying!

 

[Traitorfish]

that's not two distinct ideologies, it's left and right wing social democrats you described.

In practice, yes, but not in terms of ideology; as I mentioned, the "left social democrats", if you want to call them that (and it's as good a name as any, I suppose), were not ideological social democrats, but any number of a broad range of ideologies including socialism, communism and anarcho-socialism. Only the "right social democrats" are ideologically social democrat, at least in terms of end results- obviously, many Left-SD ideologies hold social democracy to be a precursor to more advanced forms of socialism.

 

[Dudemeister]

ah, ok.
personally i'd define right wing social democrats as capitalisto-socialists if that word makes any sense, as they seem to believe they can bend capitalism to a point where it resembles socialism.

 

[kulade]

Hi, Domination3000,

You seem like an up-an-coming internet hotshot, who is well into forming his brilliant and no doubt unique generalizations about the world!!! In answering your question as expressed in the original post, the reason you fail to recognize people whom you would call conservatives on the internet is that there aren't many that you would classify as conservative!!! The term "conservative" is one of the many titles that have been used within political discourse the the west over the past several hundred years!!! However, being a conservative is not something one is born with!!! When people are exposed to the world of politics they find many different binary or quantitative opinions ranging from "how much the government should contribute to school lunches?" to "should the government enact rent control on urban housing?" to "should the government allow trade with foreign nations that mistreat their populous?" !!! Normally people research varying opinions and make a cool, calm, and well-thought-out decisions about seemingly complex issues!!! Then, when they have opinions on a variety of issues, they sometimes look for other people with similar values, and if those people use a term (like conservative) to describe themselves the political vagrant may use it to describe themselves!!!

However, there is another way that young people obtain political titles!!! Sometimes a young person or a person previously ignorant of politics admires the fortitude or the gusto of a political commentator or speaker!!! Their entranced young ears clinging to the totality of their utterances!!! Sometimes someone whom a political virgin admires describes themselves as a certain political distinction!!! From this, our young listener may grow emotionally attached to the political figure or idea and by extension the title that comes with it!!! Unfortunately, the maturation of his political repertoire doesn't come from this emotional attachment!!! He simply learns more words in political circulation like "liberal" or "fundamentalist" or "anarcho-syndicalist" or "egalitarian" and assigns emotions to them as well depending on the stance of his political ideal!!! This is unfortunate because he feels as if he knows what he his talking about when he tries to speak about political matters, but is really just pouting his emotions and juggling words that have no analysable meaning!!! His knowledge is incredibly superficial!!! That is, everyone else knows he has no idea what he's talking about!!!

Mr. Domination, it is readily obvious to myself and the others of the site that you are of the latter group!!! Now the reason that you cannot see anyone whom you would describe as "conservative" is not because there are no "conservatives" here, but because to you, "conservative" is a term used solely in social negotiation, and all people whom you consider to be in your "out-group" cannot, by your implicit definition be conservative!!! If you plan someday on doing something drastic like voting, I have some suggestions!!! First you are far to emotionally connected to politics; you are not an extension of your political stances!!! You should then abolish your ideas and reevaluate them one by one!!! If you are not astute at critical thinking, you may need a friend to run the Socratic method on you!!! Please just remember that public policy is SERIOUS BUSINESS and if you are involved to impose an ideology rather than contribute to the common good you are valueless as a political peanut gallery!!!

Sorry for all the verbiage!!! I had my night all alone tonight!!!

All the best!!!

kulade

 

[Traitorfish]

ah, ok.
personally i'd define right wing social democrats as capitalisto-socialists if that word makes any sense, as they seem to believe they can bend capitalism to a point where it resembles socialism.

I understand what you mean, yes. Formally, I believe, they reject both socialism and capitalism in favour of the so-called "Third Way", but I'm ever sceptical of that; as you suggest, it seems like it's essentially a way of re-structuring capitalism to give a superficially egalitarian image, rather than anything in the way of true societal reform.

 

[Tani Coyote]

1. Many posters from Europe, which is more left-leaning than the USA.

2. Many posters are young, and younger people tend to be more liberal.

3. Many educated posters, and educated people tend to be more liberal.

4. In line with point 3, liberals use their education to bludgeon the enemy into submission. At least, sometimes; some just make an appeal to "human rights" and such, and that tends to make me walk out the door since I lump them in the same group as conservatives who talk about public morality.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

They were very rare at that time but they did exist.

A dictionary in the 1500's defined dragon (That age's word for dinosaur) as an extremely rare but still existing species.

Moderator Action: That's enough about dragons and dinosaurs. Anybody wanting to debate if/when they existed, please proceed downforum to Science & Technology. Thanks.

 

[Ergo Sum]

kulade's post is literally the best thing I have seen on the internet in the past week, including all the insanity from E3 and such. Probably a lot of other things too.

I'm guessing the reason D3000 finds so few conservatives on the forums is due to his reluctance to base political judgments on verifiable definitions and terms, relying instead on nebulous reasoning such as

If [Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck] embarass you, you aren't really conservative.

 

[Plotinus]

My point isn't against liberals, but simply as to why the vast majority here are liberals, whereas in real life it is more equal. That is all.

Because "in real life" it is not more equal. The United States is politically far to the right of most of the rest of the world. So what you call "conservative" and "liberal", most other people would call "very conservative indeed" and "mildly conservative", or perhaps "extreme right" and "moderate right", since the whole "conservative"/"liberal" language is American and doesn't really apply to other countries. You really need to stop trying to shoe-horn other systems into this simplistic dichotomy.

Obama, for example, is considered on the extreme left in America, at least by "conservatives". But if he were British, he would probably fit in pretty well with the Conservative party (the "conservative" one, Americans); if he were in the Labour party (the "liberal" one, Americans) he would probably be considered a Blairite and not properly left-wing (Americans, Blair is disliked by the left in Britain because although he was Labour he moved the party further to the right and disowned socialism). In political terms David Cameron (the British prime minister, Americans) is probably more "liberal" than Obama, yet he is the leader of the Conservative party and on the right. This shows you how much British politics as a whole is to the left of American politics as a whole, and the same thing applies to most countries.

So that is the simple answer to your question. The United States may be split evenly between what Americans call "conservative" and "liberal", but politically, the United States is unusual and does not reflect the situation elsewhere. Most of the rest of the world is what Americans would call "liberal". This is an international forum. Any American is going to find it more left-wing or more "liberal" than what they are used to. Instead of asking why so many people here seem to be "liberal", you should really be asking why the United States is so "conservative". That's the real issue.