Re: Question for "Conservatives"

Re-uploaded.

Equality and freedom are diametrically opposed ideas. Social and economic beliefs need to be treated separately, which is the basis of the Political Compass.

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Take the test! My score:
Economic Left/Right: 1.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.59

Definition of liberal is supporting social freedom and economic equality. They see economic inequality as the natural result of economic freedom and consider it an injustice while fully supporting freedom of expression.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

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• liberal
• tea
• teaparty
• teabag
• tcot
• libertarian
• democrat
• republican
• neocon
• bush
• obama

[bosshossable]

i like how you tuck your hair in your ears

[sorienor]

Self-survival requires greed. We usually don't call it that..but it is. it does not matter if we get away from greed-based systems as greed has evolved in us, everyone is greedy. No matter what you can't get away from it unless you suppress (by force) the humanity of every individual. Which is far, far more immoral then the greed itself.

Individual freedom comes at the expense of equality and to me that is perfectly acceptable.

[cattraknoff]

When your political and economic systems - as all recent political and economic systems have - encourage wars which slaughter millions of people, or force many to starve simply because it's more profitable, it should be clear enough that something is fundamentally wrong.

Yes, all current systems are based in greed. Is that not the problem? That we've been trapped in an obsolete, greed-bases system for thousands of years? We are supposed to evolve, not remain stagnant.

[cattraknoff]

Self-interest is healthy, as it related to survival. Greed is not, for yourself, and especially for a society.

Greed is the reason we have wars, which are entirely unjustifiable. Greed is the reason many people are living in poverty, why many people are not educated, because the education systems that exist, the institutions that exist, are designed to alienate a large segment of the populace.

Greed is the reason a few control most of the world's wealth, and therefore the political power.

[cattraknoff]

Current systems are, yes.

However as for the second part, I have to make a distinction between self-interest and greed. It's in our self-interest to have sufficient food, clothing, shelter - all of the necessities - as well as the things which make our life easier and more enjoyable - be this tools we use, forms of entertainment, etc. These are human needs.

It becomes greed when we become focused on acquiring as much of these as possible, often more than we need, even at the expense of others.

[sorienor]

ALL systems are based on greed. As self-survival requires greed.

[cattraknoff]

In a system which is based in greed, such occurrences are inevitable. As it is inevitable that such rich people will gain political power through their wealth and strip away regulations.

[sorienor]

Time for a reality check. The current market crisis was caused by badly done government regulation and government mandates and not by free market or capitalism. If the free market had been allowed to work, then there never would have been a "sub-prime market" to collapse in the first place.

Greed will exist in any system, and will find the loopholes in it. Everyone from the home buyer that could not afford it, to the real estate agent, to the CEO's were all greedy and are responsible.

[cattraknoff]

It's not that you won't own your house, your clothes, etc. Those are yours, and you have the rights to them.

The difference is in that no one (or few) people can gather up all the land, all of the industry, creating a monopoly or oligopoly structure (as is present in the U.S. today), and gain exclusive control over government. Unchecked capitalism always leads to Fascism.

Your current market crisis and all the bogus anti-terror legislation are evidence enough of that.

[cattraknoff]

Large-scale private property, yes. But not personal property.

Marx stated on several occasions that individual property wasn't the problem, and the whole point of it is that all land is supposed to be owned by everyone to do with what they will.

Communism relies on an awakening, a revolution in consciousness, among the populace. This allows the system to be implemented without extensive corruption. This reason alone shows why the "communist" countries were not in fact communist.