What is TRUE political conservatism?

[WeaselInYerFoot]

I was watching this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBVHJY-RNSA) (Ron Paul advertisement) in which they mention that the Conservative party had lost its way. I believe this is true, but I was wondering what exactly do you think about it?

Have they?

[clemsontigers23]

Of course it has. The Conservative Party is suppose to champion small government and small business, yet this new era of neo-conservatives does the exact opposite, championing big government and corporations. Also, a true conservative wouldn't be a supporter of globalism or free trade, yet the neo-conservatives support both of these things, starting with George H. W. Bush. In the process, they are destroying small business and the manufacturing industry in the U.S., which a true conservative would do everything in his power to prevent. Only Ron Paul seems to truely understand this. That's why I stand by my statement that America would be better off if the Confederacy had won the Civil War when you're talking conservatism.

[Valpo]

That's why I stand by my statement that America would be better off if the Confederacy had won the Civil War when you're talking conservatism.

oh yeah no doubt, keep dem negroes on the farm pickin da cotton!

You do realize the ramifications had the south been victorious, right?

[clemsontigers23]

oh yeah no doubt, keep dem negroes on the farm pickin da cotton!

You do realize the ramifications had the south been victorious, right?

With developing technology and increasing moral pressure on both sides, slavery would have soon been done away with anyways, and it probably would have been handled much better than the way the Union handled it, sending African Americans on the streets where many were forced to re-enter slavery by becoming sharecroppers.

However, I was referring more to the fact that the Confederacy championed small government and small business as true conservatives do. Their main point of disagreement with the North was the fact that the North was taking advantage of the South by preventing them from trading with their major trading partners, which nearly crippled the Southern economy. It was also the fact that the North largely supported large government which set them at direct odds with the conservative South.

[Valpo]

With developing technology and increasing moral pressure on both sides, slavery would have soon been done away with anyways, and it probably would have been handled much better than the way the Union handled it, sending African Americans on the streets where many were forced to re-enter slavery by becoming sharecroppers.

However, I was referring more to the fact that the Confederacy championed small government and small business as true conservatives do. Their main point of disagreement with the North was the fact that the North was taking advantage of the South by preventing them from trading with their major trading partners, which nearly crippled the Southern economy. It was also the fact that the North largely supported large government which set them at direct odds with the conservative South.

small government...small business?

the entire south economy was based off of SLAVERY, a very large business, a very large govt institution

[clemsontigers23]

small government...small business?

the entire south economy was based off of SLAVERY, a very large business, a very large govt institution

The Southern economy was based on farming, not slavery. The slaves were laborers on the farms.

[Valpo]

The Southern economy was based on farming, not slavery. The slaves were laborers on the farms.

could not have been done to the extent it was without slaves

[clemsontigers23]

could not have been done to the extent it was without slaves

BUT would have eventually adapted to life without slaves, as farming has today.

[cheewiee]

I think the point Clemson is trying to make, and I agree, that prior to the Civil War, states had more autonomy. The Federal Government as an institution wasn't as strong as it is today, and the true governmental power was the state legislatures.

After the Civil War, we see a trend of more and more power being usurped by the Federal Government leaving the state governments in a more secondary position.

This has weakened the "Federalism" of our nation. This is one of the reasons I personally like Fred Thompson, because he is one of the few (if only) candidates to actually address the trend in the last century of the Federal Government becoming stronger and states becoming weaker.

This trend was started following the Civil War because of the heavy handed tactics of the Republicans in the North East.

So I don't necessarly agree that it would have been better had the south won, I think it would have been better had Lincoln not been asassinated. His reconstruction plan would have essentially left the Union a federalist nation made up of many states, instead of one strong central nation made up of many provinces merely called states, which is what it has become.

[Valpo]

states still have autonomy...see new orleans disaster

fed couldnt just waltz into new orleans to rescue it bc louisiana has autonomy in the region...could states have more autonomy, sure. but we've had a "confederacy" before in the articles and that was a disaster.