What has gone wrong here? Conservatism never used to be so nasty. They might have been slow to act. They might have looked more to the mores of the past. And they might have stressed being frugal. They always promised to balance the budget—even though that was rare. It definitely took a turn for the worse after we watched conservative MP Paul Calandra cry about the missteps of the Harper conservatives in the House of Commons.
One of the problems is that conservatism is a broad-brush belief. It can be different in more than nuance. I have always laughed at those who tell me they are social liberals and fiscal conservatives. That is a cop-out for conservatives.
It seems that social conservatives are the most committed—and they should be. These are the antis. They are anti-abortion—for themselves and for anyone else. They are anti same-sex marriage. They know how you should live and you better do it their way—and stick to the missionary position. It is something of a wonder that this breed of conservatism doesn’t die out from boredom.
And if you don’t go to their church, you are certainly damned.
But why is leadership the most dangerous position of all for conservatives? Maybe it is just that a broad back is such an easy target. Harper survived by being ruthless. Mulroney slimed his way and made it through two elections. Lose once and be gone. Andrew Scheer can tell you that. The wolf packs are already out for that fool Erin O’Toole—he was too middle of the road. He kept tripping over the liberals.
Real conservatives seem to be trekking over to Maxime Bernier’s Peoples’ Party. It is libertarianism but that is closer to real conservatism, we are told.
But why do these people kow-tow to the rich? Why are they pandering to the millionaires among us? They can talk the talk about some imaginary middle class but they tug their forelock for the billionaires.
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Copyright 2021 © Peter Lowry
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