The board is boring now

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I wish we could attract posters to this board who could pose a thoughtful conservative perspective on various issues that might engage liberal posters in an instructive exchange/debate of ideas.

Nevertheless, I think this board is worthwhile for two reasons:

1 ) it serves as a way to be informed of the latest political news thanks to nycfan and various other posters

2 ) The MAGA/Trump/GQP posters give us a way to keep track of the latest right wing fever swamp lunacy without having to visit Fox, Newsmax, Stormfront, OAN , Breitbart et al
 
Is there a thoughtful conservative perspective on issues? We're talking about the concepts of a plan people.

I see far more interesting arguments between the left and far left than anything involving Republicans.
good question...

I confess that I am ignorant when it comes to an awareness of a thoughtful conservative perspective on issues which is why I wish a conservative poster would come to this board and enlighten me.
 
good question...

I confess that I am ignorant when it comes to an awareness of a thoughtful conservative perspective on issues which is why I wish a conservative poster would come to this board and enlighten me.
The conservative perspective now is mostly whatever makes white straight Christian nationalists have power and control over everyone else.
 
For my part, I'll take this thread as opportunity to state I had intention to make the Socialism/Communism thread a new addition on a controversial/misunderstood topic. I should have known better but the way I am, I just can't keep up and consistently respond to people. It's not their fault; it's mine. I think there's still several posts there waiting for my reply. I apologize to all still waiting for a response. I'll reply eventually, but I just tune in and tune out, given my mental state.

Anyhow, I think many others are right that it will pick up after January 20th.
 
The problem with the political aspect of the board is that 90% of the posters are of the same mindset politically, so there isn’t much to discuss. “I agree with you” doesn’t generate a good back and forth. We need some non-troll conservative posters. If there is such a thing.
The problem with conservatism is that, by nature, it is largely (though not exclusively) irrational and emotional. Whatever critique it has of liberalism, socialism, etc. is projection. Good faith, thoughtful conservative intellectuals - like, say, Tom Nichols - are still deluded about the nature of their ideology despite all their well-meaning and learnedness.

All that nonsense about Edmund Burke and what-not, forget about it. That's not what conservatism is. It's merely about whatever reserves hierarchy and default power. It's not about values, family, etc. Hell, it's not even about "tradition," to the extent tradition is anything but power.

I oversimplify, of course. But at the end of the day, this is the practical reality.
 
Newsflash for you guys: It's not a badge of honor. It's a pejorative term to describe someone who thinks they're smarter than everyone else because they would rather sit in judgement of the system instead of acknowledging that that one side, while far from perfect, maybe cares more about our country than the other side.
It also doesn't show the objectivity that some seem to believe it does.
 
I think it’s basically impossible to have a productive discussion with someone from the other side of the political spectrum in the anonymous message board format.

There are several conservatives in my life that I’ll talk politics with from time to time. I don’t agree with them on any of their views, but it never devolves into a full on argument where feelings get hurt. Just much easier to be civil and fully hash out your thoughts in person. All of the back and forth between left and right on this board, old ZZLP, etc. always just devolves into mud slinging. There’s no point.
 
I think it’s basically impossible to have a productive discussion with someone from the other side of the political spectrum in the anonymous message board format.

There are several conservatives in my life that I’ll talk politics with from time to time. I don’t agree with them on any of their views, but it never devolves into a full on argument where feelings get hurt. Just much easier to be civil and fully hash out your thoughts in person. All of the back and forth between left and right on this board, old ZZLP, etc. always just devolves into mud slinging. There’s no point.
This is a good point. I just returned from North Carolina for the holidays, and I spent a night with my best buddy who I grew up with and is a Trump supporter. Even has Trump 45-47 bumper sticker on back of his truck, which I had to endure following him to his home.

Talking with him and his wife in the kitchen, while making delicious food, however, showed me they're not mindless hate machines.

I still think it largely irrational, because I realized they didn't fully understand things, but listening to them in such an environment helped me better understand the MAGA mindset.

That being said, the generalizations we draw here and elsewhere about MAGA (or conservatives at large) are not necessarily inaccurate.
 
But I am looking for a THOUGHTFUL conservative much like Diogenes in his search for an honest man
However, conservative ethics and conservative politics - while related - are two different things.

We all love a good Aurelius recitation, but that's not necessarily politics.
 
This is a good point. I just returned from North Carolina for the holidays, and I spent a night with my best buddy who I grew up with and is a Trump supporter. Even has Trump 45-47 bumper sticker on back of his truck, which I had to endure following him to his home.

Talking with him and his wife in the kitchen, while making delicious food, however, showed me they're not mindless hate machines.

I still think it largely irrational, because I realized they didn't fully understand things, but listening to them in such an environment helped me better understand the MAGA mindset.

That being said, the generalizations we draw here and elsewhere about MAGA (or conservatives at large) are not necessarily inaccurate.
"but listening to them in such an environment helped me better understand the MAGA mindset."

Please share your insights, because, even after 8+ years of this crap, I'm still completely baffled by the MAGA mindset.
 
"but listening to them in such an environment helped me better understand the MAGA mindset."

Please share your insights, because, even after 8+ years of this crap, I'm still completely baffled by the MAGA mindset.
I'm curious as well how he'd describe it, as I'm well-acquainted with MAGA and I'm curious what takeaways he got from this experience.
 
"but listening to them in such an environment helped me better understand the MAGA mindset."

Please share your insights, because, even after 8+ years of this crap, I'm still completely baffled by the MAGA mindset.
Of course someone would ask about this. Lol. Glad you did though. Honestly, our conservation concerned more about religion, me being an atheist and them being conservative Christians, as I once was.

That being said, my buddy has always been a good-natured guy. Doesn't naturally hate anyone. I wouldn't describe him as a bigot, although he certainly grew up in an environment of bigotry and has retained some of that thinking, at least subconsciously. But, for instance, one of our biologically male high school friends eventually came out as a woman. He refers to her as "she/her," despite the fact that individual's own brother (who I randomly met at a brewery in town while back) will not.

I think we need to distinguish two types of MAGA. There are those, like my buddy, who support and love Trump - I think largely because they're conservatives (again, conservatism is merely about hierarchy, not principle) and everyone else around them has always been conservative and everyone around them is "good" so why do something else, sort of thing. (Again, irrational.) And then there is MAGA, as we tend to think of it as just a complete robotic, hate machine that wants to punish all difference. The two converge to an extent. How could they not? But they're not necessarily the same.

Perhaps the best view into the mindset comes from my father, who I had hoped was converted after his criticism of Jan. 6th. But I obviously guessed wrong. It became clear to me while back home that he had voted for Trump in 2024 and was ready for his re-entrance. I'd put WBTV from Charlotte on, mostly because I like the weather reporting and reminded me of my childhood back home for some nostalgia. Every time, it would devolve into the murders from Charlotte recently and the gang shootout that involved a school bus back in late December. That all the perpetrators were black certainly didn't help. This seemed to confirm his suspicion that the world was going to hell and that "people are so mean now" despite my contestation that crime is actually down, whatever the case may be in Charlotte.

This did not matter. Everything is the "worst ever!" Dad will get a good laugh out of videos on social media of cute cats (he's a cat dude), but, like so many others, that's not why he goes there. He goes there and to WBTV, for that matter, to get enraged. They provide him with clear targets, instead of nuance. It makes him and so many others feel significant. Like they know something the rest of us still have yet to figure out. Makes them feel important, especially because their lives are so peaceful, boring, and insignificant.

They don't even realize it. It's just so ingrained in them, they can't be any other way.

Not necessarily hateful people by nature but just small people incapable of dealing with nuance.

This certainly will not explain MAGA to you but hopefully it at least helps. They're not all utter assholes. Many of them just can't process nuance. They need meaning in their lives, because they have things so good. And Trump apparently provides them with that meaning. Even the ones who aren't full cult.
 
I guess what I'm trying to say is Trump establishes a clear narrative, despite how dumb and moronic he and it is.

This provides meaning for many, especially the conspiratorial aspects of the narrative.

They're not all natural assholes or racists (yes, they succumb to racist thoughts) but it works for them in a world devoid of apparent meaning when most of them can get an orange from the produce section in winter time.

Basically, many of them are well-intentioned but bored, spoiled people. I guess I would equate it to how, in sports, you need a "heel." We need our Dallas Cowboys. Our Alabama Crimson Tide. Our Duke Blue Devils. Makes things interesting and establishes clear good v. evil for those lacking nuance.
 
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