Poor yet Conservative: Is it Rational?

[Improved werpland]

Well I’d have to assume they value those two over improving the standing of the poor.

Perhaps it is the standing of the poor... As I said, quality of life is not always monetary.

What are you talking about exactly?

[Sovaal]

Fiscally conservative or socially conservative?

Why not both?

Social conservatism is icky

[Telconi]

Perhaps it is the standing of the poor... As I said, quality of life is not always monetary.

What are you talking about exactly?

Anything, everything, the number of trees lining the street could be a quality of life issue, how close you are to a mountain, what the social climate is, rather gay folks can marry, how many hot single college coeds there are. Shoot man, literally anything could be a quality of life issue.

[West Leas Oros]

Fiscally conservative or socially conservative?

Why not both?

To me, fiscally conservative and poor seems to be an odd combination, but social conservativism is something that seems to be an idea that wouldn’t be like working against your own interests.

[Kvatchdom]

Why not both?

Social conservatism is icky

Fiscal is even more so. It pretends it's not fiscal liberalism too much.

[West Leas Oros]

Why not both?

Social conservatism is icky

What’s wrong with it? It’s fiscal counterpart is just a hive of corruption and greed.

[Improved werpland]

What are you talking about exactly?

Anything, everything, the number of trees lining the street could be a quality of life issue, how close you are to a mountain, what the social climate is, rather gay folks can marry, how many hot single college coeds there are. Shoot man, literally anything could be a quality of life issue.

That’s called being pedantic.

[Sovaal]

Social conservatism is icky

What’s wrong with it? It’s fiscal counterpart is just a hive of corruption and greed.

Western social conservatism seeks to ace to many restrictions on the individual imo.

[New Emeline]

Are we talking social conservatism?

[Sovaal]

Are we talking social conservatism?

With Parkus brand conservatism we seem to go back to 1850.

[New Emeline]

Are we talking social conservatism?

With Parkus brand conservatism we seem to go back to 1850.

Nah, too progressive.

[Sovaal]

With Parkus brand conservatism we seem to go back to 1850.

Nah, too progressive.

Shit, you’re right, no serfs.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

Nah, too progressive.

Shit, you’re right, no serfs.

It's either feudalism or GTFO.

[Sovaal]

Shit, you’re right, no serfs.

It's either feudalism or GTFO.

WEll i always wanted a castle and fancy title.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

It's either feudalism or GTFO.

WEll i always wanted a castle and fancy title.

But do you want fleas, peasant revolts and waterborne illnesses? Wait, nevermind. You can have ale and wine. Carry on, Lord Sovaal of Pushberry.

[Sovaal]

WEll i always wanted a castle and fancy title.

But do you want fleas, peasant revolts and waterborne illnesses? Wait, nevermind. You can have ale and wine. Carry on, Lord Sovaal of Pushberry.

Right you are simpleton. Now, to go back to cutting these black boils I’ve been getting...

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

But do you want fleas, peasant revolts and waterborne illnesses? Wait, nevermind. You can have ale and wine. Carry on, Lord Sovaal of Pushberry.

Right you are simpleton. Now, to go back to cutting these black boils I’ve been getting...

Lancing bubos, mister? Just don't put dried human poop on them. Learn from Guy de Chauliac.

[Dagnia]

In addition to the many interesting arguments for and against it being rational above, one must ask "what type of conservative?". When we talk about both liberals and conservatives (at least in the US), we're talking about a pretty wide range of ideologies given there are millions of issues to have positions on. If we are just going to go with what is generally regarded as liberal and conservative and the last election is any indication of what passes for each, the poor are probably getting screwed (if only slightly) less by conservatives than liberals this time around. The liberals showed a zeal for capitalism and especially free trade and open borders as great if not greater than the conservatives. To the people who lost their livelihood because of these things, they give a cruel, mocking "dey turk ar jerbs!" and even "we don't need your support" with a middle finger up, while the conservatives told them, "we have a solution for you".

Tl;dr people like easy explanations, conservatism offers easy explanations, and poor people are less likely to benefit from complex explanations.

To a poor person, just giving them free money or some program is an extremely simple solution. In fact, many "liberal" solutions are so simple as to be downright childish.

[36 Camera Perspective]

Some people in this thread need to remember that conservative does not necessarily mean Republican. Not all conservatives are Republicans, and some Democrats are conservatives.

[Nordengrund]

I guess I’m a poor conservative, though I’m really only conservative in the fiscal sense. I have a blue-collar job. I used to be very liberal until I got such a job. It relocated down here because up in the Rust Belt, unions held too much power over the company, and our laws are generally more business friendly. The economy is also booming in my county, with what seems like everywhere hiring since Trump was elected.

[Right wing humour squad]

Yes.

[Australian rePublic]

Yes it is rational. Mang think that everyone would be poor under socialism

[Saiwania]

To a poor person, just giving them free money or some program is an extremely simple solution. In fact, many "liberal" solutions are so simple as to be downright childish.

Simplicity for its own sake isn't good, but simple is still often what works best in general.

The more complexity a business plan has, the more chance there is for things to go wrong. People in the end, just want to accomplish the objective or goal in the most efficient manner which means with the fewest steps or the least amount of effort. In martial arts, a simple movement is generally more effective than a complex move that takes more time or for the situation to be "just right" to pull off.

[Trumptonium1]

Some people in this thread need to remember that conservative does not necessarily mean Republican. Not all conservatives are Republicans, and some Democrats are conservatives.

Some Republicans are socialists. What's your point though?

[-Ocelot-]

Being a conservative isn't very rational by itself so anything after that shouldn't be expected to be perfectly rational either.

As for poor conservatives, they do have a tendency to support things that go against their interests all the time and that is valid beyond the US.

Please, conservatism is a perfectly rational political position. You may disagree, but to paint what you disagree with as irrational is terrible form. Also, spare us the terrible patronage your lot gives about people "voting against their own interests." They do no such thing. They simply don't want to vote the way you vote, and from this it's quite easy to see why.

Many poor conservatives are in need of state support and welfare, yet they vote for parties who want to cut that kind of support in favor of shrinking the state. A recent example are the US, in which many poor Americans systematically vote for Republicans, a party that unapologetically wants to crush them for the sake of making corporations as big as possible.