Interesting.
So you see 'gun control' as a 'goal', then? Or am I misunderstanding?
I see 'gun control' as a 'method'. The 'goal' being safety. I don't disagree with L's goal. It's the 'method' I disagree with.
The 'goals' concept is that stuff that all politicians preach -- we're (mostly) all for 'freedom', 'prosperity', 'security', 'charity', etc. We all pretty much agree on those.
But it's when different folks with different philosophies suggest specific remedies to problems that we start to split.
As in abortion. The goal of abortion is 'birth control'. We all agree that 'birth control' is a useful goal. Now does that mean that killing a baby to be free of it is a valid method?
If anything, I think the basic philosophy is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.", while the Libs is, "Try something new, even if it's wrong."
Very good summation of that definition. And, I think, of how that's not the definition I'm thinking about. I'm thinking more of how you define the 'conservative' philosophy when something *is* broke.
The 'goals' concept is that stuff that all politicians preach -- we're (mostly) all for 'freedom', 'prosperity', 'security', 'charity', etc. We all pretty much agree on those.
Those are all ideals. Goals are concrete steps toward ideals, but ideals can never be fully achieved. You can't get "safety", or "prosperity", because there is always a greater level of them.
I'm thinking more of how you define the 'conservative' philosophy when something *is* broke.
Then, a Conservative will seek to restore it to working order, using a model of a known working method, whereas a Liberal will see it as an opportunity to experiment with something new. Take the way the schools are failing. Conservatives push for a return to tried and true 3R's and discipline. Libs push for the latest whole language, new math method fad.
As in abortion. The goal of abortion is 'birth control'. We all agree that 'birth control' is a useful goal. Now does that mean that killing a baby to be free of it is a valid method?
I demur, because you have phrased this in the terminology of the Left. "Birth Control" isn't about the control of birth. It's about the control of pregnancy. Using abortion to control the state of pregnancy is an extreme and abject travesty because it only need be employed if you have first failed to abstain, then failed to time your actions, then failed to employ contraception for either the male, or the female or both, and finally have determined to not live with the consequences of your serial failures. Nevertheless, we see millions of these travesties.
But the goal is pregnancy control, while the ideal behind it is freedom from the consequences of biological functions being abused.