How do you tell the wise sage conservatives from the manipulative predator variety?

r/

I love the wise sage conservatives who remind us where we’ve been before whenever we talk of making bigger changes.

I abhor the greedy, power hungry conservatives that want to push the ignorant or suggestible into deep behavioral grooves in order to be exploited.

How do you tell them apart?

How do you, dear liberal, allow the former to say “wait guys, haven’t we been here before?” While keeping the latter safely at arms length?

Comments

  1. AutoModerator Avatar

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    I love the wise sage conservatives who remind us where we’ve been before whenever we talk of making bigger changes.

    I abhor the greedy, power hungry conservatives that want to push the ignorant or suggestible into deep behavioral grooves in order to be exploited.

    How do you tell them apart?

    How do you, dear liberal, allow the former to say “wait guys, haven’t we been here before?” While keeping the latter safely at arms length?

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  2. Prof_Tickles Avatar

    It’s pointless to differentiate. They’re both different shades of the same animal. One’s just a bit slower.

  3. cossiander Avatar

    The ‘wise sage’ types vote Democratic.

  4. zilmc Avatar

    Wise sage conservatives? I think you’ve written an oxymoron there

  5. LordGreybies Avatar

    The manipulative predator variety would be MAGA. Anyone who could be described as sage wouldn’t be.

  6. metapogger Avatar

    In the framework you have set up, Republicans are the greedy, power hungry ones, and moderate democrats are the sage, classically conservative ones. Slow, incremental change was something Obama talked about.

    However, I do not agree with your framework in the current political context. If you try for slow, incremental change in the face of fascism, the fascists are just going to step all over you. My current framework is maga are fascists, republicans are cheering for the fascism, and moderate democrats are standing by doing the least possible.

  7. Art_Music306 Avatar

    If they are speaking out against T, they are the wise ones.

  8. TakingLslikepills Avatar

    If you can’t understand at this point that MAGA is to conservatism what AIDS is to HIV, idk what to tell you.

    • former conservative, grew up conservative, surrounded by conservatives.

    Ofc there’s a big difference between the average older immigrant dad vs. a Republican politician, but HIV targets the cells of the immune system and that’s what makes it kind of a bitch to treat.

  9. Street-Media4225 Avatar

    I am unfamiliar with any “wise sage conservatives”.

  10. historian_down Avatar

    At this point the “wise old sage conservative” doesn’t exist in the GOP. It’s drifted clearly towards the Dem side.

  11. Greymorn Avatar

    I think the hate is the biggest giveaway. If they are punching down and scapegoating the powerless, they are only out for themselves.

  12. StatusQuotidian Avatar

    > How do you tell them apart?

    Sure, I’ll take this one: the former are Democrats. The latter are Republicans.

  13. 7figureipo Avatar

    There is no such thing as a “wise sage” conservative. Show me a centrist, a moderate, whatever and I’ll show you someone who enables the right. Today in America, that means enabling fascism: that’s what centrists and moderates do. It’s not wise. It’s actively harmful.

  14. frolf_grisbee Avatar

    There are wise sage conservatives? Huh.

  15. 2dank4normies Avatar

    >I love the wise sage conservatives who remind us where we’ve been before whenever we talk of making bigger changes.

    What you’re describing is “conservative” in the general, non-political sense, which is more of a personality trait than a set of political principles. Most mature people are conservative in that sense by nature.

    Political Conservatives are people who want to maintain a power structure that disproportionately benefits them and their in-group while punishing those outside of it. They have no other principles.

  16. 7evenCircles Avatar

    By listening. The good faith conservatism that’s worth listening to is always in support of human flourishing. A conservative critique of social liberalism and individuality, for example, would point out the dangers of anomie, and that’s worth thinking about.

  17. l0R3-R Avatar

    They are all manipulative predators. I don’t think there’s gray area these days, and I’m not sure if there ever was one.

    That being said, there are also manipulative dems, but in my experience, they are fewer in percentage and number.

  18. Havenkeld Avatar

    Can’t recognize who is wise without the wisdom to know what wisdom is. Shortcuts fail because sophistical people don the extraneous trappings of wisdom. Which is also why lots of guru style manipulators like acting eccentric to try to make people think they’re geniuses.

    So learn to think for yourself, and stop looking for shortcuts to judging other people’s thinking.

  19. Sepulchura Avatar

    Simple: Can they answer a question? Some of ’em have interesting opinions worth listening to. Most of ’em just switch the subect every time you ask them about their beliefs.

    “Who is the invading party in the Russia/Ukraine war?”

    “THE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY MADE BILLIONS OFF OF HUNTERS COCK IN BURISMA LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE “BIG GUY”

    “Ohhh, that’s not what I asked, okay how about this. Universal healthcare has been proven to be cheaper than our current system, based on Nordic models. Why shouldn’t we adopt one of those?”

    “BIG PHARMA JUST WANTS TO KEEP YOU SICK SO THEY CAN MAKE MONEY OFF OF YOUR SICKNESS, AND DOCTORS JUST WANT TO TRANS YOUR KIDS”