[u-89]

not everyone who calls himself a conservative is one

This is a very good point and leads well into this important debate going on here on FR and in the greater political world beyond. The question of "what is a conservative?" needs to be answered and then "who" is a conservative falls into place.

So if a conservative wants to "conserve" what is it then that he wants to conserve? Can conservatism be dynamic? Definition of the term would argue against that and that is why the definition is under debate - by changing the definition one changes people's political beliefs. Since humans are a herd animal they identify with and move as part of a group. Individually conservatives would not be susceptible to political change but with an ideological shift in the direction of the herd by trusted leaders they go willingly along without detecting the change in direction. A shift has happened and some have called the shifters to account and this is what the current argument is all about. This is also why the one side throws around the charges of racism and anti-Semitism. These charges are so loaded that they strip the legitimacy of their opponent and thus everything he says. It is a cheap nasty trick to avoid answering policy questions but most importantly it calms the herd - those dissenters are awful, rotten people who "we" would not want to associate with.

As this article states conservatives who say they wish to preserve liberty and limited government hold certain founding fathers - Jefferson, Washington, etc. as their role models. Today's conservatives hold up Wilson, FDR, Truman, LBJ. So if you are a conservative think about those role models and ask yourself what is a conservative today and what it is you individually wish to conserve.

[ArneFufkin]

The question of "what is a conservative?" needs to be answered

No it doesn't.

[Black Agnes]

ping.

[Cyber Liberty]

Hmmm. Tough decision. I think, since I know me best, that I will stick to the labels I apply to myself, as opposed to something from LewRockwell.

Usually good thinking, but it always comes down to, "You ain't conservative enough, baby" by the end. That's why I usually don't waste my time, and I'm sorry for it when I do. Like now.

[tomahawk]

Buckley, NR, Rush, GOP & "Neo-Con" conservatism = > 90%of "conservatives"

Pat B/"Paleo-Con" conservatism = < 10% of "conservatives"

Who is in power today? The former.

Will the latter ever be in power? No.

Who will best advance the conservative agenda? The former.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Oh lookie - somebody who thinks that the demented racist dribblings in VDARE are worthy of being called "conservative".

If that is what conservatism should be, then please count me out.

[My2Cents]

To Lew Rockwell, only Lew Rockwell is a true conservative.

[No Truce With Kings]

Ah. LewRockwell.com. Legends in their own minds.

[Cultural Jihad]

Where's the LewRockwell Drivel Alert?

[Cicero]

Interesting article, but it begs several questions.

First, I would agree that a conservative should be a realist. But then you get into arguments about what is reality? To a Machiavellian the word means one thing; to a Christian it means something quite different.

Most of us probably sympathize with the ideas expressed in Washington's Farewell Address. But do the same conditions apply today that applied in the 18th century? We should avoid foreign entanglements as far as possible, but can we avoid them entirely if foreigners now have the power to develop the means to kill us right here or even to destroy our country? Unfortunately not.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

"[Clarence] Thomas calls the segregation of the Old South, where he grew up, 'totalitarian.' But that's liberal nonsense. Whatever its faults, and it certainly had them, that system was far more localized, decent, and humane than the really totalitarian social engineering now wrecking the country."
— LLEWELLYN H. ROCKWELL

[Dr. Frank fan]

All of this verbiage to say "I oppose the war but I still want to say I am conservative."

To which my only response is: fine by me.

I have thought from the very beginning of this debate that the anti-war folks - including those who consider themselves "left-wing" - sounded more conservative than the pro-war folks.

Similarly, I advocated war against Iraq, and I recognize that this wasn't a very "conservative" position. It was a radical one.

So what?

[dennisw]

I'll bet you don't support this war either. Rockwell and his merry band are worthless punks and cowards.

[CaptainJustice]

I'm sorta tired of all this label-warring. I believe what i believe because I believe it, not because it fits in a predetermined mold.

I believe the government should stay out of some things and stay inside others. I believe in a colorblind society. I believe in personal responsibility. I believe in peace thru strength, in defending our freedom and protection our citizens. I believe in less immigration, less social welfare, less taxes, more law enforcement, more military. I think democracy is the best government people can have, and capitalism is simply economic democracy. Put those together, and you have a good idea of my beliefs. I identify myself as conservative because others who believe similarly to me, or want the same things, identify themselves the same way.

We dont agree on everything, but I agree with about 85% of what people on FreeRepublic say and about -3% of what people on DU say, so here I am. I just think we get too wrapped up in neo-paleo-libertoid-uber-canadian-antediluvian debates. We disagree some places, but I'm willing to be we agree most of the time.

[Captain Kirk]

I have my differences with the Von Mises crowd on several issues (too close to the CSA for my Garrisonian and Spoonerian abolitionists tastes)....but they are right on target on the war issue.

[Question_Assumptions]

"Conservatism and Libertarianism: The Common Ground,"

I think this points to what is really going on here.

Personally, I think that being "pro-Liberty", "anti-Government", "isolationist", or even "interventionalist" as an end, itself, misses the point that these are means to an end, not ends, themselves. And treating these ideologies as ends has created endless excluded middle arguments between abstract ideals instead of discussions of how to best address real world situations.

It is the ends of prosperity, justice, security, and happiness that people seek, not abstract philosphies. Sometimes those ends are served by government or intervention and quite often they aren't. But I'm ultimately a conservative because I believe that ideology can usually best achieve the desirable ends, not because it is and end and not because I have some fetish for any particular ideology, regardless of facts or reality. And I've always thougth that seeking out what works, as opposed to what we'd like to work, was one one of the things that seperated conservatives from ideology-addled liberals. Perhaps I was wrong.

[Porterville]

Ain't with us your against us; 'nough said.

[Moby Grape]

Rockwell, and his band of self-professed true patriots, are a gaggle of silly long winded arrogant know-nothings. The problem with this tiny cirle-jerk, is that THEY believe THEY have the TRUE compass, and wish to DEFINE all and everything under the sun by their divine revelations.....Conservative can come in more than one shade, and 99.9% of conservatives are NOT going to let these goofy dipsticks define them...and they will not allow them to create a Hilter BROWNSHIRT "Committe To Determine Who Is Really Conservative".

[A. Pole]

...a conservative is a realist, who believes that there is a structure of reality independent of his own will and desire. He believes that there is a creation which was here before him, which exists now not by just his sufferance, and which will be here after he's gone. This structure consists not merely of the great physical world but also of many laws, principles, and regulations which control human behavior. Though this reality is independent of the individual, it is not hostile to him. It is in fact amenable by him in many ways, but it cannot be changed radically and arbitrarily. This is the cardinal point. The conservative holds that man in this world cannot make his will his law without any regard to limits and to the fixed nature of things.

Ping

[The Irishman]

Thanks for the article. Of great interest was the link to survey data showing Rockwell's site to be surpassing NRO. As a former NR subscriber I'd say the decline is well deserved.
Regards.

[weikel]

This isn't unreasonable: most so-called liberals aren't liberal, and nowadays there are "libertarians" who don't give a damn about liberty.

Yeah like Lew, all he does is bash America anymore he bitches about the military and national defense and not the welfare and regulatory state. Just like the left.