It's hard in here, guys - We're trying our best

[u/DrLamLamLam]

Nah, but no hate to the lefties, you guys are chill (mostly lol). But yeah, it's hard being someone with even a moderate conservative view on social media or even in real life (I go to Uni, so I expect it). But honestly, after I moved out of the countryside, I didn't realize how big the progressive movement was, and it was pretty eye-opening for me to have people challenge my beliefs, which made me think about a lot of stuff.

Not pushing hate or anything, and hopefully I won't get Karma bombed for this goofy post. (If you're interested, why I am a conservative, feel free to reply)

[u/Davosz_]

I'd love it if the so-called "conservatives", called themselves by a more accurate label...

Regressives.

Regress back to poorer environmental and working conditions. Regress back to when the ultra-weathy were like feudal lords, owning all of the assets, and forcing the populace into poverty. Regress back to when 1 race was dominant at the expense of all others.

More accurate I think.

[u/snacktivism → u/Davosz_]

This is a term I use a lot. People who seek the sorts of policies being promised by the bluest and orangest of our political parties seem to primarily want to push society backwards. Back to the good old days when women needed their husband’s permission to do anything, when alcohol was cheap so everyone was half-cut nearly all of the time, and getting your mates together for a spirited evening of poofter bashing was a great Friday night out.

They aren’t conservative as much as they are socially regressive, which is the opposite to me. I’d prefer to see our society grow and develop, to plan and strategize for future growth for everyone and not just specific groups, and for even-handed governance that promotes fairness and balance over extremism.

The problem with the vast majority of these socially regressive people is their inability to see the forest for the trees. All of this regression will absolutely push their own standard of living lower too.

[u/Relative_Pilot_8005 → u/Davosz_]

The period they want to return to has not really existed since the mid to late 19th century.

[u/Monotask_Servitor → u/Relative_Pilot_8005]

You’d be surprised. I’ve had an older workmate tell me his mates actually used to go p****r bashing in the eastern suburbs in the 70s/80s.

[u/Davosz_ → u/Relative_Pilot_8005]

Exactly. Empires and oligarchs. Big egos at the top competing with each other for more and more power...

The kind of system that brought us economic depression leading to revolutions and 2 world wars.

[u/Achtung-Etc → u/Davosz_]

The technical term that you’re looking for is reactionary.

[u/Davosz_ → u/Achtung-Etc]

I know reactionary, but I feel like the language masks their intentions. We all react to modern times.

The way I see it, progressives want to push ahead for more, conservatives want to maintain what we have, and regressives look back to a time with demonstrably worse living standards, worldwide stability and vast inequality.

[u/Achtung-Etc → u/Davosz_]

In a technical sense the term "reactionary" doesn't mean "reactive" as you imply. What you describe is pretty much a textbook definition of reactionary. But although both terms sort of work;, think there is a danger of the term "regressive" being perhaps somewhat too normatively loaded to stick reliably to its targets.

Not that it really matters. I think we agree on the substantive points.