RE:Conservative ValuesWhat on earth are you onto now?
Chris_toronto wrote: Conservative Values
I was in rehab, one of the few there by choice
This is where you should have stopped.
The rest of this is a silly example of prejudiced thinking which is not even crafted into a
semi-satisfactory poem. It appears more the rant of a confused reacher who wishes
to blame others for his own failings as a poet.
Chris_toronto wrote:
Another patient asked me, a broken man
"What is a value? What are values?
I was told to write mine down, if I can".
He clearly had no idea what this meant
He couldn't understand why he should be good
I asked him "Is there anything you wouldn't do?
Kill a child or a puppy? Is there any way you could?"
Here is the first irony...for is it not more often the conservative, rather than the liberal, who might view abortion to be a form of murder of a child? Was this, perhaps, the subtle aim of the author? Was it truly, perhaps, entirely meant to slip in this small inconsistency?
Chris_toronto wrote:
He was puzzled by this "Why would I do that?"
I said "If you can't or won't, that's a value"
It struck me, some people have never thought
About the rightness or wrongness of what they might do
Is it truly suspected that the vast majority, whether liberal or conservative, most do not consider the morality of their actions? A simple questionaire on global warming and society's alleged role would clearly reveal this to be simplistic nonsense--as the majority appear convinced of both points, and that measures should be undertaken to resolve same.
Chris_toronto wrote:
These are what conservative values look like
"I won't do it because I have no reason to,
Not because it's right, but because I won't win"
Personal enrichment governs everything they do
This way, conservatives don't have to act
To better life for others, they just need to do that which
Avoids pain to themselves, and this sometimes
Is a good thing for those who aren't rich
Truly a simplistic world-view verging upon the childish. The vast majority of the most conservative members of society are clearly not rich--with no such aspirations to so become--while many of the most avarice are clearly not conservative.
Chris_toronto wrote:
More often than not, though, conservative values
Mean tightening the belts of the poor,
Making them pick themselves up by their bootstraps
And do the heavy lifting for the rich, who aren't sure
The global conservative project isn't about values
Although they'll swear on bibles that it is so
It's about creating a two tier world, one for the owners
And a poorer one for those of us they don't know
No, Chris. It might be better expressed that a conservative is someone who values individual responsibility, while a liberal places the onus upon society to carry such responsibility instead.
What you have illustrated above (or parroted) is a caricature worthy, ironically enough, of fascist propoganda. "Paint your enemies as sub-human. Then you do not have to worry about how you treat them."
I would expect an enlightened liberal to be well beyond simple stereotypes and cardboardization.
As a social-liberal with fiscal conservative leanings, I have nevertheless been well acquainted with many social conservatives, whom I have found to often hold a very strong support for charitable aims.
The possible divergence between conservative charity and that of the liberal mindset, in my experience, has been a view that the goal of charity to the conservative is largely to provide a ladder by which only those truly deprived might avail themselves as a last resort in order to use it as a means to eventually arrive back to a proper footing, whereas the liberal is more concerned with preserving the spirit of the afflicted, lowering the bar for acceptance in order to erase the stigma of being marginalized. Both seem worthy in their own ways. Both appear to have a vested interest in assisting their neighbours facing hard times. Neither, as far as I have been able to determine, particularly relish the idea of children starving in their beds. So I do not see the point of your poem except as the action of a bored troll wishing to create controversy for its own sake.
But this is neither a conservative, nor particularly liberal mindset...so I am at a loss.
What again was your point?