Kurdish leader says 'yes' vote won independence referendum

Freedom is not a conservative value, it is something valued by American conservatives. For example, the right wing of Hong Kong is against the movement for expanded democratic rights.... they view expanded democracy as a threat to their capitalist identity.

True conservatism is the relentless preservation of established societal norms.... as many on this sub rightly point out, American conservatism is more aptly described as "classic liberalism".

There are many non-democratic societies and dictators who would fit and classic, "natural" profile of conservatism as it existed before the French and American revolutions.

Many conservatives all over the world care a lot more about the preservation of capitalism, fiscal conservatism, and desire from their leaders a refusal to bend to the popular degradation of morality which has become the norm on the world stage.

For example, an American conservative would say anyone can promote any idea they want, as protected by their constitutional rights. But when I see the American Supreme Court declaring homosexual marriage to be "constitutional", I say you need a new constitution, as that constitution has failed.

Putin, with his laws against homosexual propaganda, earns high marks from many social conservatives around the world, myself included.

For me, there is nothing I wish to do with my life which would be prohibited in the vast majority of authoritarian regime. If all you care about if living as a capitalist, meeting the girl of your dreams, and teaching your kids to play golf or hockey, the broad majority of authoritarian regimes would applaud these ambitions. What they are are suppressing, for the most part, are LEFTIST movements.

It seems odd to me that we live in a world where the global left seems broadly unified in their political agenda, yet those who identify as conservatives can't even seem to agree on how to even define conservatism. Nevertheless, conservatism has existed long before the Americas were even colonized, it predates democracy, and is as old as common sense. The fact that a leader doesn't stack up to certain enlightenment era ideals does not detract from his conservative credentials.

/r/Conservative Thread Parent Link - rt.com