Are there ANY conservatives here?
 

I don't mean conservative in the American sense of card carrying member of the "Republican" party. I mean, is there anyone here that is:

1. anti-abortion
2. anti- gay rights (marriage)
3. in favor of the Alabama Courthouse displaying the 10 Commandments

I would say I am very conservative. The real definition of conservatives, the party of Thomas Jefferson and Lincoln, is:

Minimal government
human rights
Government not mixing in religion
low taxes
states authority

Those things you mention have nothing to do with conservative values, the party has been hijacked by Taliban religious yahoos.

Absolutely!!! Dead right on all counts!!! :thumbsup

Don't confuse socially conservative, fiscally conservative, and libertarian. All three are very different, and its especially strange that it tends to be "conservatives" who confuse them.

I'm a pedestrian!

Well, yes. The definition of conservative has changed over time and continues to. The parties themselves change and adapt and with them the definitions of conservative and liberal.

Just looking at the US ...

Until the Depression, Republicans were perceived as stronger on what we would call Civil Rights (in many ways). Republicans were stronger on environmental issues. Republicans looked to limit "big business" (anti-trust regulation). In time it has become the opposite.

So sure, the parties evolve to gather votes and reflect changing ideologies.

You sound like a libertarian for the most part.

Minimal government. That's libertarian. Definitely not Republican/conservative by today's standards. The record of recent conservative US presidents is of big government. They still talk the game and use phrases like "minimal government" but they don't act it. Of course, they really mean "minimal welfare".

I'm for minimal government intervention in my private personal life. I think that makes me a liberal by today's standards, correct?

Sort of but not completely. Do you believe you should have the right to own a gun in your "private personal life"?

Many libertarians, who take a more extreme view than either party on personal liberty, think both parties fall far flat on this regard. This is where I stand. Partyless. Where is the party that believes in true personal liberty, a strong military, free markets, and doesn't think the Federal Reserve and banking systems need to be abolished?