Does more history knowledge make you more conservative? Options

[Hartmann]

It's a pretty straightforward question.

My opinion is that it does in some way, as the liberal ideal is utopianism and an understanding of history makes it all the more clear that man is an imperfect thing and not able to be made perfect

Thoughts?

[Mommy]

Very interesting question. Everyone I have met that are huge history buffs are conservative.

[Seeker]

I think being a student of History makes you Libertarian.

[Hartmann]

I think being a student of History makes you Libertarian.

Which is considered a conservative stance as personal freedom is not so much of a core of liberal thought anymore.

[Seeker]

Which is considered a conservative stance as personal freedom is not so much of a core of liberal thought anymore.

it's not a core of conservative thought either

[Mommy]

haha i just remembered that Zach has a history degree i think. he's liberal

[Hartmann]

it's not a core of conservative thought either

True, which is why I am not either of those things

[blaarg]

Which is considered a conservative stance as personal freedom is not so much of a core of liberal thought anymore.

huh?

yeah because I guess conservatives would agree with gay marriage and non-intrusive surveillance methods (*cough cough* wiretapping) because that is what the "stay out of people's business" part of libertarianism is.

No doubt there are uber traditional conservative principles in libertarianism (especially having small government), but the fact is present day conservatives have little to no resemblance to traditional conservatism.

oh yeah and to answer the topic question:

no.

[Melanie]

Yeah, I'm going to have to say No to this question as well.

Both Zach and I have History degrees, and I know we are not the exception to this. One could say that a student of political science is also a history student, then this original argument would fail. You can't generalize people by what they study. Like, "education majors are just looking for husbands"

This is about as odd of a question as, "Is your dog conservative (based on if the dog chases cars)?"

[Hartmann]

huh?

yeah because I guess conservatives would agree with gay marriage and non-intrusive surveillance methods (*cough cough* wiretapping) because that is what the "stay out of people's business" part of libertarianism is.

No doubt there are uber traditional conservative principles in libertarianism (especially having small government), but the fact is present day conservatives have little to no resemblance to traditional conservatism.

oh yeah and to answer the topic question:

no.

I think it's the far right who really want the intrusive searching. If you sit down and talk to your everyday conservative, they're not going to like the government going through their harddrive or viewing them on camera.

Libertarianism is conservative from the point of view of business and government regulation for sure, I just think the original idea of conservatism was not government control and surveillance but "do what you will" instead.

[Mommy]

I wouldn't call a poli sci student a history student at all....especially in respect to this question

One studies the government (presumably of the U.S.) and the other studies the history of the world.

[Hartmann]

This is about as odd of a question as, "Is your dog conservative (based on if the dog chases cars)?"

Odd? I think it's a very valid question as everything we do/learn has an impact on how we think.

Yeah, I'm going to have to say No to this question as well.

Both Zach and I have History degrees, and I know we are not the exception to this. One could say that a student of political science is also a history student, then this original argument would fail. You can't generalize people by what they study. Like, "education majors are just looking for husbands"

It's not about studying, it's about knowledge. Having a history degree is one thing (especially if it's taught with a liberal slant) but reading history books and taking interest in history is a totally different thing, though they can be related.

I am not generalizing the way you are suggesting, I am saying that general knowledge in history should make one aware of the non-utopia reality in the world, which is an idea that most liberals disavow (you can read threads from this board for proof). We can make the world better but we can never make it perfect is what history should make obvious.

[blaarg]

I think it's the far right who really want the intrusive searching. If you sit down and talk to your everyday conservative, they're not going to like the government going through their harddrive or viewing them on camera.

So it's just the "far right" that are getting bills like this to pass in Congress? I agree, if you sit down to talk to your average everyday conservative they would think that all this surveillance (i.e. "government going through their harddrive or viewing them on camera") is bullshit. That just shows how out of touch the conservative voters are with their representatives (and how the neo-conservatives have hijacked the party).

[blaarg]

I've always held the belief that there are two factions in America: conservatives and the educated.

[Hartmann]

So it's just the "far right" that are getting bills like this to pass in Congress? I agree, if you sit down to talk to your average everyday conservative they would think that all this surveillance (i.e. "government going through their harddrive or viewing them on camera") is bullshit. That just shows how out of touch the conservative voters are with their representatives (and how the neo-conservatives have hijacked the party).

There are no arguments from me. I think that in general (for both conservatives and liberals) the house and congress need to be cleaned out. There are folks in these positions that are simply going along to go along and don't take any interest in their party nor their constituents. This is definitely where I think we could improve as a nation, getting Congress back to where it was originally, representing the people.