So why are you a conservative? For me, when I was first exposed to conservative views as a kid, I had never seen that perspective before and it just made more logical sense. Plus, I just never really liked poor people.
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I am a conservative because I know how to bathe.
I am a conservative because I like America.
I am conservative because I believe in earning things, not being given them.
Because the beliefs I and other conservatives hold are the same as those held by the Founding Fathers, the men and women who pushed ever westward for more than a century, Civil War heroes the likes of Joshua L. Chamberlain and Ulysses S. Grant, the great industrialists of the 1800s and early 1900s, and countless veterans of our many wars for liberty for all.
The historical record could not be more clear. It tells us that when individuals are allowed to act as they choose, the natural strength of humanity will succeed, and, combined with abundant natural resources as found here, widespread prosperity will ensue.
I became a follower of Objectivism after reading Ayn Rand’s books in high school. I never saw a reason to change my thinking about what I saw going on around me; Objectivism seemed to explain everything quite well, and enabled me to keep my head when all about me were losing theirs.
Conservative principles came a bit later, as I saw that liberal establishments that I had never really questioned were built on deceit and corruption. So I never lost my Objectivist/Libertarian thinking, but over the last 15 years or so I have started to lean further toward more traditional (I guess you’d call it) Conservative values.
Aside from all talk about ideology/philosophy/blah, blah, blah, it has always been easy for me to see throughout my long (some might say TOO long) life that anyone identifying him/herself as “liberal,” “socialist,” or “progressive” has never demonstrated to my satisfaction that they are capable of or useful at anything, and moreover those who identify themselves as such are seldom trustworthy; in fact, they are best avoided altogether by any person who wishes to live a sane, enjoyable, interesting, and comfortable life. They are, one and all, quite unpleasantly greedy and narcissistic individuals. In short, they’re no damned fun at all; they whine, kvetch, and quibble over every little thing, and are never satisfied until whatever issue is on the table can be turned into something that involves someone being victimized.
A self-identified leftist cannot be reasoned with or trusted. I have never been able to stay even casual friends with one, and have learned at this point to give them a wide berth.
I’m not really a conservative! Joke is on you! I’m really Barack Obama posing as an attractive, intelligent, wise-cracking redhead in Virginia. Now you know my REAL strategy for winning the future! Ha HA!
I became a conservative because I thought that it would get me the hot chicks, but now that Carolyn has broken my heart, I’m going to try being a member of the lunatic fringe.
I became a Conservative when Jimmy Carter was POTUS and Ronaldo Magnus came along! I saw very clearly the difference between trusting the people of the United States to take care of their own business and the Government trying to solve all our “perceived ills”… As time has marched forward, I have become even more conservative. Now I think Reagan was a liberal! I hate fat smelly kids, poor people, minorities, PBS, Volvos and Cowboy Poetry! When I think of a real Conservative I think of John Wayne…and I also think he would have shot any cowboy poets that happened along that were being paid for by Federal Tax Dollars! Then he would have done that spin his six shooter deal and would have smoothly holstered it while downing a Whiskey!!!
Like Carolyn, I’m a redhead in Va. Kinda un-attractive and a guy though. Thomas Jefferson was just like me, but better looking and taller. And smarter.
What I was really going to say was that the poster in the background of the video is for a movie Crowder was in a few years ago that his brother made. It can be found at Big Hollywood.
I am a conservative because progressivism, to this point, has only reliably produced empty stomachs and full graveyards. I prefer results over intentions. No matter how much you intend to eat a good dinner, taking mine will only result in you interrupting me, and possibly gunfire.
Also, “gimme!” is not an acceptable political philosophy, despite the millions of pages, in thousands of books, devoted to making it seem mature, reasonable, and principled.
Cherry on top: only the free market will take the risks necessary to create space lasers and a functional Fissionosaurus.
ussjimmycarter said: “I hate . . . Cowboy Poetry!”
I dunno, jimbo, “Yippy-ki-yay, motherf*cker” is poetry to MY ears. How could you hate that?
I was raised a conservative, was temporarily converted to liberal ideas by my college professors, lost common ground with the liberals when they whole-heartedly began to back abortion, came to realize that you cannot erase poverty by giving money to poor people, and became a radicalized conservative when I attended UC Berkeley’s law school and saw first-hand the actual, measurable damage and suffering caused by liberal ideas. Remember the battle for People’s Park? The University wanted to build student housing (which was and still is sorely needed in rent-controlled Berkeley), but “The People” rioted to keep “their” precious plot of land, which they had come to view as a commons. Decades later, the student housing crisis was worse than ever, and People’s Park was an open cesspool, frequented mainly by drug dealers. Normal people – that is, people who were not substance-impaired, brain-damaged, criminals or all of the above – walked for blocks out of their way to avoid the unsavory dangers of People’s Park. The Park, however, is but a small and symbolic part of the rabid moonbattery and professional aggrievement-mongery that still infect Berkeley. These people are not rational, and simply cannot accept that their slogan-based ideology has negative consequences. If it SOUNDS compassionate, it must be right! If you disagree, you must be heartless, greedy and evil, and people with bad motives cannot possibly be correct in their opinions about anything. You are mean, so LA-LA-LA-LA can’t hear you!
As for attractive women, I think conservatives have it all over the hairy-legged, ball-busting, man-hating womyn of the left. Michelle Bachmann v. Elena Kagan. Michelle Malkin v. Nancy Pelosi. Ann Coulter (OK, a bit tranny-looking) v. Janet Reno. Hell, Ann Coulter’s DOG v. Janet Reno. Sarah Palin v. Helen Thomas. Nancy Reagan v. Michelle Obama.
And don’t forget, even an attractive liberal woman is going to treat any man like something she stepped in on her way to the Botox party. Not worth it.
It was the contrast between Carter and Reagan that did it for me too.
Also Reagan had a sense of humor. “I’ve just outlawed the Soviet Union, the bombing begins in 5 minutes…” Now There was a leader I could follow!
The best thing about Reagan was his clear perception of our dilemma “Government can’t solve the problem, government IS the problem.”
“I’ve just outlawed the Soviet Union, the bombing begins in 5 minutes.” Ooooh, and didn’t he catch hell for that? Lefties have no sense of humor at all.
Q: How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: That’s not funny!
I saw Milton Friedman’s “Free To Choose” series on *gasp* PBS in 1980 as a 19 year old and read the book.
I ‘ ll have to watch them again, just found them online at: http://miltonfriedman.blogspot.com/
Ayn Rand’s philosophies had attracted me before that,
and after I came to faith in Jesus Christ in 1982 , I began living my life
more as a conservative- taking responsibility and accountability for my actions, that is.
I had always embraced conservatism in theory, but hadn’t always lived my life that way.
There are some odd contrasts in my life, I am a union member.
After a meeting last night, a liberal friend asked me how I could be a conservative and a union member.
I said that I believe in contracts and their enforcement , in freedom of association- to join or not,
and that is why I belong.
I work with people from all across the political spectrum, hopefully I can lead some in our direction.
So I was just checking the “I Hate Frank” category and saw the last post with bits added from liberals. I wish there would be one or two regular liberals here… okay maybe just one. By regular, I mean on Metimucil so that maybe said liberal wouldn’t be so cranky. I also mean regular contributors, because the stuff in the “Comment of the Day” post in the “I Hate Frank” category was kind of awesome and great and cool and stuff.
By the way, I like how this asked about becoming a conservative (or Conservative) vs becoming a Republican. I am the former, but not the latter.
Marko – what do you mean, “Attractive women reading IMAO? Give me a break.”? My mom says I’m pretty!! Hmmf.
For Carolyn I could be the token liberal around here, being for helping the poor and against punching hippies … But I am a conservative because I want to spend my own money rather than have some dippy politician seize it to buy votes with.
I’m a libertarian (Small L) despite being raised in a 100% leftist environment because I read the Constitution. Some people think the constitution is “vague” and “hard to understand” because it was written ZOMG “over a hundred years ago” (hello, two) by “white dudes” but, um, even Maher acknowledges that the writers of it were extraordinarily intelligent “white dudes” and frankly it’s written in pretty plain English that we can understand EVEN TODAY. I was inspired by the farmers and common men who not only took on one of the most formidable armies in the world but who KNEW that “revolutions” more often than not led to a worse situation than ever and got together to write a set of rules and mores that could stand the test of time. About 200 years apparently. And so long as a patriot still lives, more than200 years.
“If you’re not a liberal by 20, then you have no heart… if you’re not a conservative by 50, then you have no brain.”
So… does that mean I have no heart? I’m pretty sure I feel one beating in here somewhere…
Actually, real heartlessness is when a politician understands what devastation socialism/Keynesian economics brings, but still implements it in order to keep his power and to please his union buddies.
I’m a conservative (well, really, small-l libertarian) for the same reason I’m an atheist: a deep-seated, unyielding skepticism towards everything and everyone. Liberals kept saying that “this” is what’s good or we must do “that” or that “this” person’s bad and “that” person’s good, and expected me to believe them without any kind of explanation. When I went and tried to find a reason, I learned about nihilism and existentialism; I wasn’t
Oops! Hit the submit button early there… stupid laptop touch pad….
Anyway, where I left off: I wasn’t very interested in politics until I learned about the central philosophies of liberalism (though I suppose my politics were vaguely conservative, I wasn’t very engaged). Liberal politics, which had seemed at least intuitively understandable, suddenly became very disturbing to me and I became very invested in the fight against them.
I suppose I should have said that’s why I became a conservative, it’s not really why I *am* one. Now that I’ve read Rand, Aristotle, Hayek and even good ol’ Heinlein (who was a sci-fi writer, for those who don’t know), my reasons are based more on positive arguments FOR conservatism. But again, I’m really a libertarian, politically, but I call myself a conservative because my personal values *are* fairly conservative).
I love so many answers on here and agree with many – especially the loving babies alive comment. Also what Terry said about coming to faith in Christ and how that affected everything else in my life so much more profoundly.
Going back further, my parents were business owners in Chicago where I grew up. Pretty conservative folks. However I’d have to say that going to an uber-liberal college in Chicago is what catapulted me into conservatism. I couldn’t believe these folks – the professors – actually believed the trash they were peddling. And to challenge them was to subject yourself to humiliation and ridicule. I guess I was naive at the time because most public colleges are ultra liberal – but at the time I was truly shocked. I mean, even seemingly “innocent” sounding classes had a socialist bend to them. Complete and total indoctrination at work there. No bones about it.
So that and listening to my boyfriend’s dad (now my father-in-law) talk about how working for the govt. is the best gig in the world because he gets to nap and hearing him forever play the victim and how everyone in the world “owes him one” – well it turned my stomach. My father, a 2nd generation American who didn’t even graduate hs but joined the Army (forged his mom’s name to join early and fought in Korea) worked his BUTT off to build a life, home, and business – and succeeded in all 3 – and not because of hand-outs or because anyone “owed” him. He also was the most generous man I ever knew. He died when I was 16 and for the next 22 years I would still have to listen to my father-in-law whine. Put a lot in perspective for me.
Moving to CA has only made me MORE conservative – if that’s even possible. It’s about as crazy liberal as you can get out here (and that coming from someone from Chicago!)
In my days at the University of Iowa I thought I was a liberal. But I thought at the time being a liberal meant that everyone was free to think and do as they pleased with their life. Idealism of a young mind full of mush. When I discovered that I had to “tow the line” when it came to thought I responded with my usual creative F-You!
Oh, and there was this guy on a talk show called Crossfire Bob Novak that articulated the Conservative position for me early and often. Then I was introduced to Pat Buchanan (pre-Fox News) through the McClaughlin Group. I also saw a mean ugly hag screeching liberalism which drove me further right. And finally I discovered this little ball of fuzz named Rush Limbaugh who had 1/2 his brain tied behind his back, just to make it fair and I was hooked on being a Conservative!
Well technically speaking I’m more of a libertarian than a Conservative but not the crazy kind. I’m 26 and have been kind of all over the place with political beliefs. I hadn’t thought much about politics or economic theory before I turned to Christ (August 16, 2000) my sophomore year in high school. Ever since I got saved I’ve had this feeling like some thing has been lost in the church and so shortly after getting saved I really tore into the book of Acts. Seeing how the early church had every thing in common and not being mature in my faith or my thinking yet I decided that Communism must be the right way. I didn’t really think much beyond every one having stuff. Eventually I realized that what the church was doing was completely voluntary and run by a private organization and that the extremity they were going to was probably abandoned for a reason. I still had some personal anger and rebelliousness though so while I hadn’t fully embraced Free Market Capitalism I wasn’t on board with Socialism either. After college I moved back to Washington State and at least on non-economic issues I was always pretty conservative so I started getting in to Fox News and eventually found Neil Cavuto who eventually turned me on to the idea of free markets. Since then I’ve read things like 1 Samuel 8:11-18 and Judges 9:8-15. I figure God knew what He was doing setting up what was essentially a very minimal government with the Mosaic law and the judges.
B. A teacher in my school, a certified, long-haired, sandal-wearing, Beatles-loving hippy, gave me Stranger in a Strange Land to read when I was in 4th grade.
All the hippies wanted to be V.M. Smith and run around nekkid in communes, since I can’t learn Martian (I tried gargling aspirin, it didn’t work) I’ve wanted to be Jubal Harshaw since I was 10.
18 adult 16-30yr old white men gangrape a poor 11 year old black girl and video tape it. Fox news story never mentions race only “working class” and includes a lot of discussion about how the girl was known to dress “older” then her age and mention that she certainly needed more adult supervision. Would the left go ballistic? (yes and right so!)
This did happen only it was the NY Times the 18 men were black and the 11yr old girl was Hispanic.
Ill put this up next to my old cutout NYtimes coverage of Martin Luther King rallies being described as “incendiary and violence prone” (exactly how they described the tea parties decades later) And, my other cutout of the pre WW2 NY Times describing Hitlers return from exile as chastened and humbled having learned his lesson. This list could go on for hours.
Seriously despicable people. with a very ugly and long history.
I’ve truly enjoyed reading these comments. I think I’ve always been conservative, so it’s hard to answer this. Kind of along the lines of why am I male?…born that way I guess. I’m conservative because I truly distrust government, and it seems as though conservatives are on the side of reducing the size of government.
My first experience of what it must be like working for the government was in kindergarten. Every day in kindergarten, the teacher would pick one child to hand out the snacks. Every kid wanted to hand out the snacks…because that kid had the opportunity to shove his own mouth full of cookies while additionally placing another full portion on his own desk.
Now if that doesn’t describe liberal politics, I don’t know what does.
I am a conservative because it is the only sensible thing to be. I can’t pretend to save the world, but I can help those I love and that help might spread to those that they love. It is pretty simple.
yeah USSJimmy, same here – I thought I was pretty liberal (or at least moreso than my parents) when I started at the University of IL @Chicago. Then I realized pretty quickly that liberals were just plain nuts. And, since I wasn’t nuts, I couldn’t possibly be liberal. Pretty simple reasoning now that I think about it.
I couldn’t be anything other than a conservative growing up watching Firing Line with my parents, listening to Rush, or reading National Review. However, if I ever had rebellious political views, that all changed after my first zero dollar paycheck as a waitress. And of course, I don’t see how any woman could carry a child and give birth and still follow the ‘don’t call the fetus a baby’ line.
There’s a saying: “A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged.”
That wasn’t quite enough for me. A few years in the Navy helped, but watching The Goreacle in the first debate in 2000 convinced me that he was not a good person, and watching the debacle after the election convinced my that most of the liberals weren’t, either. That year, the democRats lost my vote forevermore.
I remember being quite liberal in my college days, but as the years went past, the most amazing thing happened: I grew up.
I believe that I am “middle of the road” because I know one person that is more conservative than I. But at least I am not as wild-eyed liberal as Limbaugh and Coulter are.
I grew up middle class suburban. My parents raised me with a few simple truths: 1. The world isnt sunshine and lollipops 2.Nobody is going to take care of you, you have to do it yourself 3. You take responsibility for your actions and hold people accountable for theirs. I joined Scouts as a Tiger cub and then proceeded to work my way to Eagle. I had people in college try to brainwash me to be a liberal, but I stayed true to my beliefs and even converted a few.
I have been a conservative ever since I was in high school and had to do the obligatory reading of Catcher in the Rye and realized, after I finished the book, that Holden Caulfield is one of the most unlikeable a**holes in American literature…yet every lib I knew liked him.
I am a conservative because I am more concerned by the killing of babies than I am over the killing of mass murderers.
I am a fiscal conservative because the most common form of socialism is the group project in public school, and I was the one kid doing the work of the four who skipped school that week.
I’ve been a conservative since the age of nine (1960 – ok, now you know my age!) when I wore a “Nixon’s The One” button everywhere (school, sporting events, etc.). My parents were crushed when Kennedy won that election and said things like “That’s the last chance we have of stopping liberalism/communism in this country.” In actuality, my values were shaped by my parents active teachings of reason, philosophy (and “philosophy of religion” – a fantastic subject) and common sense….
Before I turned 18, I refused to apply for a social security number and my father threatened me seriously if I didn’t. I had also read Rand’s entire works by then which, looking back on it, gave me a serious, rebellious case of “kiss my ass” which has never left me.
You know, I love how all the “bio’s” are showing up here today! Frank maybe thinks it’s his funny writing that keep me commenting. It’s actually you all.
Red hair, eh? Not a good admission to an drunken Irish engineer/farmer who’s been digging in the gloppy, soaking monsoon soil all day!!
I will confess: I am actually not Barack Obama trolling the site. I am a young redhead in VA. I’d like to think I’m attractive, but I’m also a new mamma of the spunkiest, most precious little girl ever. I’ve been told that when I’m feeling especially protective of someone, I come off like a mamma grizzly bear. Therefore I might look either a) like Sarah Palin (only a redhead) or b) like a 600-lb hairy beast.
Funny – Palin is a conservative and 600-lb hairy beast makes me think liberal.
Speaking of having new little girls, Frank, I suggest you come east and we’ll have a baby girl playdate. Call it a business expense and write it off on taxes. We’ll go to DC together, get drunk, and lob eggs at the White House over the fence.
I never paid much attention to politics until the Clinton years when I developed a white hot hatred for that lying scumbag and his equally despicable harpy. The day he wasn’t thrown out of the White House on his hillbilly ear was the day I said this country was finished. It was unfathomable that anyone with two firing neurons would support such a lowlife. But they did. That’s when I realized that there were two diametrically opposed groups of people – the filthy liberals with their twisted ideology and the decent people with common sense. But even before that I had always hated hippies, so I guess I was born a conservative.
In 79 I found Jesus, in England. Yes, He was hiding in England. Right there…next to the eiderdown.
I was pretty much apolitical till I heard Rush Limbaugh in the early 90s. I realized I was a conservative just by the things he said that I naturally agreed with.
I am a fiscal conservative because the math works, and history provides multiple empirical examples to prove it.
I am in favor of having a strong military because the logic that no one wants to f*ck with the guy riding the rocket-toting dinosaur is sound, and history provides multiple empirical examples to prove it.
I am a personal conservative because that works for me (and millions of other people) but I am a social “do whatever the f*ck you want except for murdering babies or trampling on the rights of others” because I think that people should be able to live their lives the way they want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.
Not to worry Son of Bob. Liberals are saving you the trouble and expense of moving to a crappy socialist country by making the US of A a crappy socialist country.
One of my earliest memories of why I’m conservative is because, when I was about twelve, I was linked to the animated segment of “Bowling for Columbine” because the author of a webcomic I was reading was the character designer for it. That segment was so annoying and obviously falsified that I immediately took the opposite position and began actively seeking out the conservative side. You hear that, Michael Moore? Your leftist propaganda actually worked as conservative propaganda!
I was an obnoxious libertarian when I was in college. Convinced myself I was an atheist and the smartest guy in the room. Never saw any merit in leftism at all — was especially turned off by the racism in it. Over the course of a decade or so I realized that my ideology was annoying and incomplete, though… it couldn’t account for courage, honesty, morality. I became a Christian and a conservative mainly by example. Once I found that the people I admired most were the ones that fit that description, I opened my mind and started reading what they were reading and writing, and realized what I’d been missing.
I am a conservative because I know how to bathe.
I am a conservative because I like America.
I am conservative because I believe in earning things, not being given them.
I am a conservative because I have a brain.
Because the beliefs I and other conservatives hold are the same as those held by the Founding Fathers, the men and women who pushed ever westward for more than a century, Civil War heroes the likes of Joshua L. Chamberlain and Ulysses S. Grant, the great industrialists of the 1800s and early 1900s, and countless veterans of our many wars for liberty for all.
The historical record could not be more clear. It tells us that when individuals are allowed to act as they choose, the natural strength of humanity will succeed, and, combined with abundant natural resources as found here, widespread prosperity will ensue.
I became a follower of Objectivism after reading Ayn Rand’s books in high school. I never saw a reason to change my thinking about what I saw going on around me; Objectivism seemed to explain everything quite well, and enabled me to keep my head when all about me were losing theirs.
Conservative principles came a bit later, as I saw that liberal establishments that I had never really questioned were built on deceit and corruption. So I never lost my Objectivist/Libertarian thinking, but over the last 15 years or so I have started to lean further toward more traditional (I guess you’d call it) Conservative values.
Aside from all talk about ideology/philosophy/blah, blah, blah, it has always been easy for me to see throughout my long (some might say TOO long) life that anyone identifying him/herself as “liberal,” “socialist,” or “progressive” has never demonstrated to my satisfaction that they are capable of or useful at anything, and moreover those who identify themselves as such are seldom trustworthy; in fact, they are best avoided altogether by any person who wishes to live a sane, enjoyable, interesting, and comfortable life. They are, one and all, quite unpleasantly greedy and narcissistic individuals. In short, they’re no damned fun at all; they whine, kvetch, and quibble over every little thing, and are never satisfied until whatever issue is on the table can be turned into something that involves someone being victimized.
A self-identified leftist cannot be reasoned with or trusted. I have never been able to stay even casual friends with one, and have learned at this point to give them a wide berth.
Well,
I’m not really a conservative! Joke is on you! I’m really Barack Obama posing as an attractive, intelligent, wise-cracking redhead in Virginia. Now you know my REAL strategy for winning the future! Ha HA!
Attractive women? Reading IMAO? Give me a break.
I became a conservative because I thought that it would get me the hot chicks, but now that Carolyn has broken my heart, I’m going to try being a member of the lunatic fringe.
I became a Conservative when Jimmy Carter was POTUS and Ronaldo Magnus came along! I saw very clearly the difference between trusting the people of the United States to take care of their own business and the Government trying to solve all our “perceived ills”… As time has marched forward, I have become even more conservative. Now I think Reagan was a liberal! I hate fat smelly kids, poor people, minorities, PBS, Volvos and Cowboy Poetry! When I think of a real Conservative I think of John Wayne…and I also think he would have shot any cowboy poets that happened along that were being paid for by Federal Tax Dollars! Then he would have done that spin his six shooter deal and would have smoothly holstered it while downing a Whiskey!!!
Like Carolyn, I’m a redhead in Va. Kinda un-attractive and a guy though. Thomas Jefferson was just like me, but better looking and taller. And smarter.
What I was really going to say was that the poster in the background of the video is for a movie Crowder was in a few years ago that his brother made. It can be found at Big Hollywood.
I think, therefore I am conservative.
Because if I were a liberal I’d have to kick my ass.
I am a conservative because progressivism, to this point, has only reliably produced empty stomachs and full graveyards. I prefer results over intentions. No matter how much you intend to eat a good dinner, taking mine will only result in you interrupting me, and possibly gunfire.
Also, “gimme!” is not an acceptable political philosophy, despite the millions of pages, in thousands of books, devoted to making it seem mature, reasonable, and principled.
Cherry on top: only the free market will take the risks necessary to create space lasers and a functional Fissionosaurus.
You know, DamnCat, I’m not sure a cat kicking his own ass is out of the question.
ussjimmycarter said: “I hate . . . Cowboy Poetry!”
I dunno, jimbo, “Yippy-ki-yay, motherf*cker” is poetry to MY ears. How could you hate that?
I was raised a conservative, was temporarily converted to liberal ideas by my college professors, lost common ground with the liberals when they whole-heartedly began to back abortion, came to realize that you cannot erase poverty by giving money to poor people, and became a radicalized conservative when I attended UC Berkeley’s law school and saw first-hand the actual, measurable damage and suffering caused by liberal ideas. Remember the battle for People’s Park? The University wanted to build student housing (which was and still is sorely needed in rent-controlled Berkeley), but “The People” rioted to keep “their” precious plot of land, which they had come to view as a commons. Decades later, the student housing crisis was worse than ever, and People’s Park was an open cesspool, frequented mainly by drug dealers. Normal people – that is, people who were not substance-impaired, brain-damaged, criminals or all of the above – walked for blocks out of their way to avoid the unsavory dangers of People’s Park. The Park, however, is but a small and symbolic part of the rabid moonbattery and professional aggrievement-mongery that still infect Berkeley. These people are not rational, and simply cannot accept that their slogan-based ideology has negative consequences. If it SOUNDS compassionate, it must be right! If you disagree, you must be heartless, greedy and evil, and people with bad motives cannot possibly be correct in their opinions about anything. You are mean, so LA-LA-LA-LA can’t hear you!
As for attractive women, I think conservatives have it all over the hairy-legged, ball-busting, man-hating womyn of the left. Michelle Bachmann v. Elena Kagan. Michelle Malkin v. Nancy Pelosi. Ann Coulter (OK, a bit tranny-looking) v. Janet Reno. Hell, Ann Coulter’s DOG v. Janet Reno. Sarah Palin v. Helen Thomas. Nancy Reagan v. Michelle Obama.
And don’t forget, even an attractive liberal woman is going to treat any man like something she stepped in on her way to the Botox party. Not worth it.
It was the contrast between Carter and Reagan that did it for me too.
Also Reagan had a sense of humor. “I’ve just outlawed the Soviet Union, the bombing begins in 5 minutes…” Now There was a leader I could follow!
The best thing about Reagan was his clear perception of our dilemma “Government can’t solve the problem, government IS the problem.”
“I’ve just outlawed the Soviet Union, the bombing begins in 5 minutes.” Ooooh, and didn’t he catch hell for that? Lefties have no sense of humor at all.
Q: How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: That’s not funny!
I saw Milton Friedman’s “Free To Choose” series on *gasp* PBS in 1980 as a 19 year old and read the book.
I ‘ ll have to watch them again, just found them online at:
http://miltonfriedman.blogspot.com/
Ayn Rand’s philosophies had attracted me before that,
and after I came to faith in Jesus Christ in 1982 , I began living my life
more as a conservative- taking responsibility and accountability for my actions, that is.
I had always embraced conservatism in theory, but hadn’t always lived my life that way.
There are some odd contrasts in my life, I am a union member.
After a meeting last night, a liberal friend asked me how I could be a conservative and a union member.
I said that I believe in contracts and their enforcement , in freedom of association- to join or not,
and that is why I belong.
I work with people from all across the political spectrum, hopefully I can lead some in our direction.
So I was just checking the “I Hate Frank” category and saw the last post with bits added from liberals. I wish there would be one or two regular liberals here… okay maybe just one. By regular, I mean on Metimucil so that maybe said liberal wouldn’t be so cranky. I also mean regular contributors, because the stuff in the “Comment of the Day” post in the “I Hate Frank” category was kind of awesome and great and cool and stuff.
By the way, I like how this asked about becoming a conservative (or Conservative) vs becoming a Republican. I am the former, but not the latter.
Marko – what do you mean, “Attractive women reading IMAO? Give me a break.”? My mom says I’m pretty!! Hmmf.
For Carolyn I could be the token liberal around here, being for helping the poor and against punching hippies … But I am a conservative because I want to spend my own money rather than have some dippy politician seize it to buy votes with.
I am a conservative because I like babies best when they are alive.
This dude on the radio told me to vote republican, so I’m like “yes master”.
I like to shoot stuff, too.
Oh, and I can’t stand people who don’t look like me or talk with foreign accents.
I’m a libertarian (Small L) despite being raised in a 100% leftist environment because I read the Constitution. Some people think the constitution is “vague” and “hard to understand” because it was written ZOMG “over a hundred years ago” (hello, two) by “white dudes” but, um, even Maher acknowledges that the writers of it were extraordinarily intelligent “white dudes” and frankly it’s written in pretty plain English that we can understand EVEN TODAY. I was inspired by the farmers and common men who not only took on one of the most formidable armies in the world but who KNEW that “revolutions” more often than not led to a worse situation than ever and got together to write a set of rules and mores that could stand the test of time. About 200 years apparently. And so long as a patriot still lives, more than200 years.
“If you’re not a liberal by 20, then you have no heart… if you’re not a conservative by 50, then you have no brain.”
So… does that mean I have no heart? I’m pretty sure I feel one beating in here somewhere…
Actually, real heartlessness is when a politician understands what devastation socialism/Keynesian economics brings, but still implements it in order to keep his power and to please his union buddies.
I’m a conservative (well, really, small-l libertarian) for the same reason I’m an atheist: a deep-seated, unyielding skepticism towards everything and everyone. Liberals kept saying that “this” is what’s good or we must do “that” or that “this” person’s bad and “that” person’s good, and expected me to believe them without any kind of explanation. When I went and tried to find a reason, I learned about nihilism and existentialism; I wasn’t
Oops! Hit the submit button early there… stupid laptop touch pad….
Anyway, where I left off: I wasn’t very interested in politics until I learned about the central philosophies of liberalism (though I suppose my politics were vaguely conservative, I wasn’t very engaged). Liberal politics, which had seemed at least intuitively understandable, suddenly became very disturbing to me and I became very invested in the fight against them.
I suppose I should have said that’s why I became a conservative, it’s not really why I *am* one. Now that I’ve read Rand, Aristotle, Hayek and even good ol’ Heinlein (who was a sci-fi writer, for those who don’t know), my reasons are based more on positive arguments FOR conservatism. But again, I’m really a libertarian, politically, but I call myself a conservative because my personal values *are* fairly conservative).
I love so many answers on here and agree with many – especially the loving babies alive comment. Also what Terry said about coming to faith in Christ and how that affected everything else in my life so much more profoundly.
Going back further, my parents were business owners in Chicago where I grew up. Pretty conservative folks. However I’d have to say that going to an uber-liberal college in Chicago is what catapulted me into conservatism. I couldn’t believe these folks – the professors – actually believed the trash they were peddling. And to challenge them was to subject yourself to humiliation and ridicule. I guess I was naive at the time because most public colleges are ultra liberal – but at the time I was truly shocked. I mean, even seemingly “innocent” sounding classes had a socialist bend to them. Complete and total indoctrination at work there. No bones about it.
So that and listening to my boyfriend’s dad (now my father-in-law) talk about how working for the govt. is the best gig in the world because he gets to nap and hearing him forever play the victim and how everyone in the world “owes him one” – well it turned my stomach. My father, a 2nd generation American who didn’t even graduate hs but joined the Army (forged his mom’s name to join early and fought in Korea) worked his BUTT off to build a life, home, and business – and succeeded in all 3 – and not because of hand-outs or because anyone “owed” him. He also was the most generous man I ever knew. He died when I was 16 and for the next 22 years I would still have to listen to my father-in-law whine. Put a lot in perspective for me.
Moving to CA has only made me MORE conservative – if that’s even possible. It’s about as crazy liberal as you can get out here (and that coming from someone from Chicago!)
Oh and I’m not ashamed to say I am also a social conservative. Big time.
In my days at the University of Iowa I thought I was a liberal. But I thought at the time being a liberal meant that everyone was free to think and do as they pleased with their life. Idealism of a young mind full of mush. When I discovered that I had to “tow the line” when it came to thought I responded with my usual creative F-You!
Oh, and there was this guy on a talk show called Crossfire Bob Novak that articulated the Conservative position for me early and often. Then I was introduced to Pat Buchanan (pre-Fox News) through the McClaughlin Group. I also saw a mean ugly hag screeching liberalism which drove me further right. And finally I discovered this little ball of fuzz named Rush Limbaugh who had 1/2 his brain tied behind his back, just to make it fair and I was hooked on being a Conservative!
“Plus, I just never really liked poor people.”
hee hee hee. that’l drive em nuts.
Well technically speaking I’m more of a libertarian than a Conservative but not the crazy kind. I’m 26 and have been kind of all over the place with political beliefs. I hadn’t thought much about politics or economic theory before I turned to Christ (August 16, 2000) my sophomore year in high school. Ever since I got saved I’ve had this feeling like some thing has been lost in the church and so shortly after getting saved I really tore into the book of Acts. Seeing how the early church had every thing in common and not being mature in my faith or my thinking yet I decided that Communism must be the right way. I didn’t really think much beyond every one having stuff. Eventually I realized that what the church was doing was completely voluntary and run by a private organization and that the extremity they were going to was probably abandoned for a reason. I still had some personal anger and rebelliousness though so while I hadn’t fully embraced Free Market Capitalism I wasn’t on board with Socialism either. After college I moved back to Washington State and at least on non-economic issues I was always pretty conservative so I started getting in to Fox News and eventually found Neil Cavuto who eventually turned me on to the idea of free markets. Since then I’ve read things like 1 Samuel 8:11-18 and Judges 9:8-15. I figure God knew what He was doing setting up what was essentially a very minimal government with the Mosaic law and the judges.
I’m a conservative for two reasons:
1. I can do math.
B. A teacher in my school, a certified, long-haired, sandal-wearing, Beatles-loving hippy, gave me Stranger in a Strange Land to read when I was in 4th grade.
All the hippies wanted to be V.M. Smith and run around nekkid in communes, since I can’t learn Martian (I tried gargling aspirin, it didn’t work) I’ve wanted to be Jubal Harshaw since I was 10.
Personal responsibility and leftism don’t mix.
Why I HATE The NYTIMES !
Imagine this scenario,
18 adult 16-30yr old white men gangrape a poor 11 year old black girl and video tape it. Fox news story never mentions race only “working class” and includes a lot of discussion about how the girl was known to dress “older” then her age and mention that she certainly needed more adult supervision. Would the left go ballistic? (yes and right so!)
This did happen only it was the NY Times the 18 men were black and the 11yr old girl was Hispanic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/us/09assault.html?_r=1
Ill put this up next to my old cutout NYtimes coverage of Martin Luther King rallies being described as “incendiary and violence prone” (exactly how they described the tea parties decades later) And, my other cutout of the pre WW2 NY Times describing Hitlers return from exile as chastened and humbled having learned his lesson. This list could go on for hours.
Seriously despicable people. with a very ugly and long history.
I’ve truly enjoyed reading these comments. I think I’ve always been conservative, so it’s hard to answer this. Kind of along the lines of why am I male?…born that way I guess. I’m conservative because I truly distrust government, and it seems as though conservatives are on the side of reducing the size of government.
My first experience of what it must be like working for the government was in kindergarten. Every day in kindergarten, the teacher would pick one child to hand out the snacks. Every kid wanted to hand out the snacks…because that kid had the opportunity to shove his own mouth full of cookies while additionally placing another full portion on his own desk.
Now if that doesn’t describe liberal politics, I don’t know what does.
Carolyn, let us run through some of the male users of IMAO.
DamnCat is a cat.
Laurence Simon is a Jew.
Jimmy is a drunken Irish farmer.
Ussjimmycarter is a freak.
Frank is probably Irish. Moreover, he has a mental illness of which we are all figments.
Harvey is a bearded sailor with a Midwestern accent.
Veeshir and shiggz are just nuts.
Finally I am a nerdy young man who delusionally fantasizes about captaining a submarine.
None of these cats and men seem bound to attract women of any kind.
I am a conservative because it is the only sensible thing to be. I can’t pretend to save the world, but I can help those I love and that help might spread to those that they love. It is pretty simple.
yeah USSJimmy, same here – I thought I was pretty liberal (or at least moreso than my parents) when I started at the University of IL @Chicago. Then I realized pretty quickly that liberals were just plain nuts. And, since I wasn’t nuts, I couldn’t possibly be liberal. Pretty simple reasoning now that I think about it.
I couldn’t be anything other than a conservative growing up watching Firing Line with my parents, listening to Rush, or reading National Review. However, if I ever had rebellious political views, that all changed after my first zero dollar paycheck as a waitress. And of course, I don’t see how any woman could carry a child and give birth and still follow the ‘don’t call the fetus a baby’ line.
There’s a saying: “A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged.”
That wasn’t quite enough for me. A few years in the Navy helped, but watching The Goreacle in the first debate in 2000 convinced me that he was not a good person, and watching the debacle after the election convinced my that most of the liberals weren’t, either. That year, the democRats lost my vote forevermore.
I remember being quite liberal in my college days, but as the years went past, the most amazing thing happened: I grew up.
I’m Conservative because I heard they were rich, so I thought maybe I would get rich too. Hasn’t worked yet.
I believe that I am “middle of the road” because I know one person that is more conservative than I. But at least I am not as wild-eyed liberal as Limbaugh and Coulter are.
I’m a conservative because I believe:
– Wealth is unlimited
– Truths are absolute
– People are basically evil
I grew up middle class suburban. My parents raised me with a few simple truths: 1. The world isnt sunshine and lollipops 2.Nobody is going to take care of you, you have to do it yourself 3. You take responsibility for your actions and hold people accountable for theirs. I joined Scouts as a Tiger cub and then proceeded to work my way to Eagle. I had people in college try to brainwash me to be a liberal, but I stayed true to my beliefs and even converted a few.
I have been a conservative ever since I was in high school and had to do the obligatory reading of Catcher in the Rye and realized, after I finished the book, that Holden Caulfield is one of the most unlikeable a**holes in American literature…yet every lib I knew liked him.
Its true im like the Charlie sheen around here
I am a conservative because I am more concerned by the killing of babies than I am over the killing of mass murderers.
I am a fiscal conservative because the most common form of socialism is the group project in public school, and I was the one kid doing the work of the four who skipped school that week.
I’ve been a conservative since the age of nine (1960 – ok, now you know my age!) when I wore a “Nixon’s The One” button everywhere (school, sporting events, etc.). My parents were crushed when Kennedy won that election and said things like “That’s the last chance we have of stopping liberalism/communism in this country.” In actuality, my values were shaped by my parents active teachings of reason, philosophy (and “philosophy of religion” – a fantastic subject) and common sense….
Before I turned 18, I refused to apply for a social security number and my father threatened me seriously if I didn’t. I had also read Rand’s entire works by then which, looking back on it, gave me a serious, rebellious case of “kiss my ass” which has never left me.
You know, I love how all the “bio’s” are showing up here today! Frank maybe thinks it’s his funny writing that keep me commenting. It’s actually you all.
Red hair, eh? Not a good admission to an drunken Irish engineer/farmer who’s been digging in the gloppy, soaking monsoon soil all day!!
Cheers.
I’m not a conservative. I’m simply an honest man who understands that the only meaning in this life is to be found in virtue.
For this I’m labeled a conservative. I’d rather be me than be them who disagree. I doubt they feel the same way.
Well Marko,
I will confess: I am actually not Barack Obama trolling the site. I am a young redhead in VA. I’d like to think I’m attractive, but I’m also a new mamma of the spunkiest, most precious little girl ever. I’ve been told that when I’m feeling especially protective of someone, I come off like a mamma grizzly bear. Therefore I might look either a) like Sarah Palin (only a redhead) or b) like a 600-lb hairy beast.
Funny – Palin is a conservative and 600-lb hairy beast makes me think liberal.
Speaking of having new little girls, Frank, I suggest you come east and we’ll have a baby girl playdate. Call it a business expense and write it off on taxes. We’ll go to DC together, get drunk, and lob eggs at the White House over the fence.
Lechteron: “Well technically speaking I’m more of a libertarian than a Conservative but not the crazy kind.”
hahahaha – my brother-in-law is the crazy kind so I understood this statement!
September 11, 2001 woke me up.
I never paid much attention to politics until the Clinton years when I developed a white hot hatred for that lying scumbag and his equally despicable harpy. The day he wasn’t thrown out of the White House on his hillbilly ear was the day I said this country was finished. It was unfathomable that anyone with two firing neurons would support such a lowlife. But they did. That’s when I realized that there were two diametrically opposed groups of people – the filthy liberals with their twisted ideology and the decent people with common sense. But even before that I had always hated hippies, so I guess I was born a conservative.
Marko, High Praise – Thank You!
In 79 I found Jesus, in England. Yes, He was hiding in England. Right there…next to the eiderdown.
I was pretty much apolitical till I heard Rush Limbaugh in the early 90s. I realized I was a conservative just by the things he said that I naturally agreed with.
Marko – what do you mean I don’t attract women?
Laydees lubs teh kittehs!
True, most of them are old & crazy – but some are young & crazy.
Why Are YOU a Conservative?
Have you taken close look at the alternative?
(not what the left wants you to see but what they pretend isn’t)
(cold finger correction)
…isn’t -there
Listen Marko, chicks dig crazy.
Unfortunately, the cops told me that I have to stay away from the egg farm so I’ve had a dry spell for a while.
Because, if I wanted America to be like crappy socialist countries, I’d move there instead.
I am a fiscal conservative because the math works, and history provides multiple empirical examples to prove it.
I am in favor of having a strong military because the logic that no one wants to f*ck with the guy riding the rocket-toting dinosaur is sound, and history provides multiple empirical examples to prove it.
I am a personal conservative because that works for me (and millions of other people) but I am a social “do whatever the f*ck you want except for murdering babies or trampling on the rights of others” because I think that people should be able to live their lives the way they want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.
Not to worry Son of Bob. Liberals are saving you the trouble and expense of moving to a crappy socialist country by making the US of A a crappy socialist country.
One of my earliest memories of why I’m conservative is because, when I was about twelve, I was linked to the animated segment of “Bowling for Columbine” because the author of a webcomic I was reading was the character designer for it. That segment was so annoying and obviously falsified that I immediately took the opposite position and began actively seeking out the conservative side. You hear that, Michael Moore? Your leftist propaganda actually worked as conservative propaganda!
Also, Crowder was on Arthur? That’s awesome.
I guess I could be the token liberal around here, if only I could figure out one thing: Is IMAO serious or a humor blog?
Is IMAO serious or a humor blog?
Yes.
5 of 7 you beat me to it – I was going to answer her the same way!
I was an obnoxious libertarian when I was in college. Convinced myself I was an atheist and the smartest guy in the room. Never saw any merit in leftism at all — was especially turned off by the racism in it. Over the course of a decade or so I realized that my ideology was annoying and incomplete, though… it couldn’t account for courage, honesty, morality. I became a Christian and a conservative mainly by example. Once I found that the people I admired most were the ones that fit that description, I opened my mind and started reading what they were reading and writing, and realized what I’d been missing.
#63 – sulamie,
Missed it by thaaaat much! 😉