The Man who Fell to Earth from the Sky

Dow up 10% this week.

Thank you President Obama.

getalife on March 13, 2009 at 3:05 PM

Those of us familiar with plants know of something called a “last bloom”. This is when a plant or tree that is about to die will put everything it has into a final flowering in an effort to generate as many seeds as possible before it dies. Now, what we have to ask ourselves is this: are we just seeing a “bear rally”? Or are we seeing the beginnings of a recovery? Or is this a “last bloom”?

To use another allusion, the big difference between conservatives and libbies such as getalife is that we conservatives don’t want to see the house burn down just to say we’re right about Bambi. We want the firemen (businesses, consumers, in other words, the people) to put out the fire. We want a strong economy–even if Bambi is on watch at the time. We don’t want him to ram through his socialist agenda, but we also don’t want to see lives ruined in the process. By the same token, after the fire has been put out, we conservatives will point our fingers at the man with the lit match (Bambi) and say in a loud, clear voice, “This is the moron responsible!”

Matt Helm on March 13, 2009 at 4:32 PM

Please explain me the conservative hostility towards higher education/educated or the pursuit of higher education?

I would like some clarity. Is it inherently a bad thing to have an advanced degree? I see a lot of railing against Colleges in general, teachers in general, children being educated outside the home, children going to college, the college educated and those with advanced degrees.

I’m not being snide, My purpose here is to get understanding.

Magnus on March 13, 2009 at 6:11 PM

I’m going to take your question as an honest one and give you a fair answer. First, conservatives aren’t hostile to higher education. You’ll find that I and many others here have baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate degrees. More than one person here has their MA, Ph.D, JD, MD, etc. Conservatives prize a true liberal arts education. What we object to is the fact that much of academia is corrupted and tainted by individuals holding tenure track positions who are not true scholars–but rather are nothing more than shibboleth spewing pseudo-intellectuals posing as scholars.

Conservatives such as myself who are in academia–especially if they’re in a liberal arts discipline as I am–and who are not tenured or have not achieved a high enough position in their field have to “fly under the radar” so to speak. We cannot reveal our true political leanings or we run the risk of being denied tenure and promotions. Also, in my profession, I have seen incredibly poor quality articles submitted by all too many academics published in a variety of academic journals. These “articles” are often poorly researched and poorly written.

Conservatives want good schools with good dedicated teachers at all levels from kindergarten to university. We also want our children to know the foundations of their country’s heritage, to take pride in their heritage as free men and women, and to understand that it will fall on them to protect that heritage. Many of us feel that our current public school system is failing in that task as well as failing in providing our children good educations.

But the only other alternative seems to be minimum wage work, a government job or union work. All which conservatives seem to hold in contempt also. Its very rare that someone without a college degree can compete in corporate America.

Magnus on March 13, 2009 at 6:39 PM

What gives you the idea that we conservatives hold all of those occupations in contempt? Just the opposite in fact. We conservatives have the utmost respect for all who put in an honest day’s or night’s work regardless of whether they’re professionals, businessmen, government workers, skilled labor or unskilled labor–union or nonunion. We believe that people should have the right to choose whatever occupation they want to and they should have the right to choose whether they wish to join a union or not and that those choices should be freely made and not coerced. There’s nothing at all shameful or demeaning about someone going to a vocational school instead of university–Heaven knows this country wouldn’t survive without good plumbers, welders, electricians, carpenters, etc. And there’s nothing at all shameful about someone working at a fast food restaurant or digging a ditch or being a night watchman or what have you–as long as he or she takes pride in their work and does the best job they can. We also want and hope that that person will want to improve their lot in life. That’s why we conservatives point to such fictional and characters as Pip and Horatio Alger and real life individuals such as Dale Carnegie–people who worked hard and accomplished.

Success to a conservative is not measured by your degree. It is measured by how you live your life.

Matt Helm on March 13, 2009 at 8:53 PM

My advice to Magnus is to sample a broad range of conservative blog sites, including places like neoneocon, Protein Wisdom, and Little Green Footballs.

Y-not on March 13, 2009 at 9:04 PM

Also to read the columns and blog postings of individuals such as Victor Davis Hanson who is a noted scholar in his field and to check out the National Association of Scholars at http://www.nas.org. I would also refer our fellow conservatives not in academe to that site as well.

Matt Helm on March 13, 2009 at 9:12 PM

1. There appears to be hostility towards Unions, as if they ruin business, especially with the news of the Auto Bailouts.

Often they do through their corruption and excessive demands. Added to that there’s the corruption of union officials. Further, union dues are used to finance the campaigns of candidates that their members don’t necessarily support, but the members have no say as to where their dues go. To a large extent, excessive union demands are part of the reason why the Big 3 are in trouble. While Toyota, Honda, and Nissan in the South are feeling the pinch of the recession, they’re feeling it nowhere near the extent that the Big 3 are and a primary reason for that is that the UAW isn’t in their factories. By the way, the workers in those nonunion factories are paid well and enjoy benefits and the factories are able to compete. Unions and the Democratic party exist in a pernicious symbiotic relationship that hurts the consumer, the producer, and the working man and woman.

As to your second point–conservatives are not opposed to giving people who need it a helping hand. What we do object to is people who are able to work, but who choose not to work being provided with the equivalent of bread and circuses in exchange for voting Democrat. You’ll find that conservatives give far more to charities and volunteer far more of their time to charitable efforts to the poor than liberals. Also, you’d be surprised at how many people on minimum wage and near minimum wage jobs do not and will not accept welfare. My parents struggled when I was young–we made do–they wouldn’t think of going on welfare. We wore second hand clothing purchased at thrift stores, my parents never went into debt, they worked hard, and they accomplished. My father rose from being an unskilled less than minimum age worker to becoming the third in charge at the plant where he worked. My mother became a department head at the store she worked at before retiring. By the way, my father was illiterate until I taught him basic literacy and my mother only has an eighth grade education.

You have this notion that conservatives hate government. We don’t hate government–we just believe that it should stay within its bounds.

Matt Helm on March 13, 2009 at 9:51 PM

I find conservatism is black and white and there can be no deviation of thought. I was lurker here for a while and I’m find myself either confused about the conservative message or feel alienated from it even though in theory it seems more aligned to my generally view of life. And being a black american its harder because we tend to gravitate left because the left seems more open to the issues that specifically effect us.

Actually, if you take a bit of time and really look and listen, you’ll find that the opposite is true. We conservatives run the gamut in views and often have lively discussions. Here you’ll find pro-Palin and anti-Palin conservatives; pro-Rush/anti-Rush; pro-choice/pro-life; pro-gay marriage/anti-gay marriage; etc. etc. Please do not mistake passionate debate–which we do engage in–with anger. The reason why you’re probably so confused is that we do engage in such passionate debate–something that you don’t see that much of on liberal blogs such as Huffington Post and Kos because they tend to squelch opposition voices there. I can see where that can be confusing to someone not used to us–but if you think about it, that’s what this country’s all about–expressing our views honestly and passionately. Yes, we do hammer or laugh at the trolls, but as you’ve seen, honest inquiries such as yours receive honest and respectful answers.

If you really want to see where we come from, I’d suggest that you read the following: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution–especially the Preamble, John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, The Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist Papers, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. I’ll admit, that’s a pretty thick reading list, but it’ll give you a good primer into conservative thought and will tell you a lot as to where I, at least, come from as far as my thoughts are concerned.

Matt Helm on March 13, 2009 at 11:18 PM