Conservatives have to be conservative again

<-- conservative ideas






Conservatives, to be perfectly frank: y'all got nuthin'.

By which I mean, you have no big ideas about how to change America for the better. Infinite tax cuts? Well, if we want to bankrupt the country, sure. Deregulation? Already happened, and now plenty of people are saying it went too far. Spending cuts? Yeah, so the money can go to the Pentagon. "Ownership society"? Please stop making me laugh, it's bad for my medical condition.

So the Republicans, like the Democrats before them, are Out of Ideas. But something tells me that that's not as bad for a conservative movement. After all, isn't it kind of a strange idea that "conservatives" should have to come up with bold dynamic new ways of changing our country? Isn't that why we have liberals?

All the conservative issues that are left are anti-change. "Don't take our guns away." "Don't change the definition of marriage." "Don't make our business plans obsolete." But maybe that's as it should be. Maybe it's better to have the kind of conservatives they have in Britain - stuffy old curmudgeons standing in the way of youth and irresponsibility and excess. Heck, that sure would be better than nutcases like Bill Kristol who want to take over the world.

In fact, I think I'll like the new breed of conservatism. It'll be about preserving traditional small-town and suburban American culture in the face of the wrenching changes that the New Depression and peak oil are going to throw our way. And though that traditional culture is far from perfect, it seems to me to be something worth preserving.

Good luck, conservatives. We won't take your guns, I promise. We might take your SUVs, though. And your crocs. Because, seriously.