Welcome!

[zorkian]

Welcome to the_2nd. This is a community I've been wanting to create for discussion of political issues. In particular, though, I want a community where those of us with conservative leanings (or people interested in conservative ideals) can get together and discuss things. Given that much of the Internet (especially on Dreamwidth and similar sites) seems to consist of endless liberal discuss, it seems like a good idea to have a place for conservatives to get together and discuss things.

There are some rules up in the bio of the community. Please read them. I will not be happy if people come in here and try to cause trouble. I believe that Dreamwidth is the kind of place where people can get together and discuss things in a way that is constructive, informative, and interesting. Even for those of us who don't necessarily follow the majority opinion.

Thanks for reading. I'll post some actual content here in a bit, I already know what I want to talk about first, but it might take me a little while to find the right article and put together my thoughts on the matter.

Comments

[ivorygates]

oh thank you for this! i've been asked by one of my "foreign correspondents" to explain what the difference is between a liberal and a conservative, and ... i sort of know it when i see it, but i can't come up with the words to make it clear.

[zorkian]

Hee. Well, we'll see if I can actually come up with anything coherent, too! Or at least, hopefully when there are a few people reading and looking at things, we'll get something interesting and well thought out that's worth reading.

The first thing I'm going to talk about personally is the 2nd Amendment stuff that's been happening. McDonald vs ... I forget the other side. I'll try to get it together and posted tonight or tomorrow.

[ilyat]

Oh wow, thank you for starting this group. It can be difficult to find intelligent discussion with a conservative bent online - especially with so many social media and networking sites fostering what is typically a young and vocally liberal membership.

I read a number of news articals that are derived from law enforcement and court case sites and can definitely relay the good & applicable ones here for discussion.

[pauamma]

I take it, based on the name for this comm, that you're aiming for the libertarian brand of conservatism?

[zorkian]

Yeah, similar. I don't want to apply any particular party labels for fear of scaring people off, but yes, I consider myself probably closest to libertarianism (lowercase l) than other political ideals.

[pauamma]

*nod* (the lowercase l in my question was deliberate)

[quinfirefrorefiddle]

Thanks for starting the comm, I look forward to participating.

I was wondering- is this comm specifially intended for American politics, or are you looking for a more global conversation? That might be something to put in the profile.

[zorkian]

I would love to make it a non-US-centric community. Realistically my only knowledge and experience is for my country's politics, but would be happy to listen and learn about the rest of the world. I'll update the profile!

[majoline]

Thank you for starting this group! It is a wonderful idea. *follows*

[wanted_a_pony]

Thanks so much for including 'people interested in conservative ideals'! I think of myself as "the last of the New Deal Democrats" but I'm really interested in conservative ideas. Unfortunately I have no tolerance for hate-mongering, bullying or the Religious Reicht, so most political stuff on TV & radio & most of the easily-found web sources are not my cuppa. (Please note that I didn't say that liberal, progressive &/or alternative sources are always sane either. ;-)

I'm looking forward to reading & thinking about stuff here, & seeing how the different flavors of "conservative" blend. (For example, do libertarians automatically oppose conservatives who believe that government should support & ensure behavior in accordance with religious laws? I'm not trying be a smartass--I really do want to know the answer to questions like this. Simpleminded, maybe, but I'm willing to try to learn....)

Hi

[ex_peasant441]

I'm British. I'm Conservative (big C), fairly conservative (small c), and have pretty strong libertarian leanings, and I definitely feel outnumbered on DW and LJ so I am hopeful for this community.

We're coming up to our General Election sometime in the next few months, so it is a pretty tense time to be a Tory.

I don't know much about the US right wing and what I know has been filtered through my online US friends who are pretty much all Democrats so it is hard for me to know what real US right wingers think. I assume you aren't all as evil as the Democrats paint you!

Re: Hi

[zorkian]

There are definitely Evil Conservatives (Fred Phelps, etc) and there are definitely Evil Liberals (Earth Liberation Front, other eco-terrorism groups, etc)... But yes, I'd say that most people are somewhere in the middle, where we don't actually believe in eating babies or puppies or anything else like that.

I would love to read articles about the political process over there in England (Britain? I never know what to call your country). Especially about the different groups, and see how they're similar to/different from our own political groups.

American politics are, IMO, completely broken. I'm looking for things that work -- or at least, things that are better, even if they're flawed in different ways.

Re: Hi

[ex_peasant441]

If in doubt, say Britain and British (never 'Britisher' which is a made up word only Americans use). The country as a whole is Great Britain, or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to give it it's full name. The constituent parts are England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and a few other small things. Very few people will object to being called British, whereas if you call a Scot, Irishman or Welshman 'English' or refer to the whole country as 'England' by mistake, they will hate you for ever. Think of it like the difference between the US and individual US states, except that England by virtue of being larger and the seat of government tends to dominate the others.

American politics are, IMO, completely broken. I'm looking for things that work -- or at least, things that are better, even if they're flawed in different ways.
Do you mean your entire political system and parts of the underlying constitution, or those people currently practising politics and hence the way the populace at large responds to them?

[indybear]

Thank you for starting this community! I frequently feel marginalized, and my tongue is permanently sore from having to bite it. :>)

I look forward to some intelligent discourse.