American conservatism: the perfect combination of fascism and apathy.

Conservativsm is not a political position, it is a lack of a political position.
I've come to this conclusion after living in rural Kansas for three years and being in a community that has 50%+ Republicans, but they rarely debate or do any activism or anything. My area is seen my the conservatives to be completely dominated by leftists, because they are the only ones that do any activism and they run the important institutions.
Conservativsm certainly is not a lifesyle. When I browse Facebook I see many people with "conservative" listed under their political affiliation (often even conservative and Christianity/God listed under interests) with tons of pictures of them drinking and partying. A lot of these conservatives are ashamed of Bush, but really violently hate liberals. The difference between liberals and conservatives are that liberals are too pissed off to keep being silent, mainly based on being more informed about current events and how the world works.
American Conservatism is a not a political position, it is a culture. It is tied deeply to the dominant Christian views in America, which is a big part of this and can be viewed under this framework of a strange apathetic, reactionary, ignorant/apathetic, anti-modern, anti-liberal, hateful culture that produces right-wingers.
So many people I have talked to have said they are fed up with Bush, but we should just obey our government and we can not change anything. American Conservatism is largely based on apathy and nationalism, often justified by Christianity with a strong emphasis on Romans 13:1, rather than Acts 5:29 or other better verses more accurate to the early Christians who were radical and not obedient to temporal authorities. For example, Paul wrote many of his letters from jail and was executed by the Roman Empire. It really is a strange phenomenon, and certainly a recent, post-Vietnam phenomenon (Vietnam War, especially the Pentagon Papers caused widespread distrust and apathy toward government by people on the left and right.) Nonetheless, it is from this culture, which is very widespread, that our politicians must build a c onsensus base. There seems to be little base for anyone to build a campaign on then of hatred, rallying around the flag, idolatrous repetitive screaming of "God Bless America"(yeah, I do mean Kerry's concession speech, fuck you Kerry), militarism, and "staying the course" on every issue.

American conservatism: the perfect combination of fascism and apathy.

Evidence for this blend of unqualified nationalism and apathy is provided in an e-mail being forwarded around:
> WHAT\\'S ALL THE FUSS?
>
> "ARE WE FIGHTING A WAR ON TERROR OR AREN\\'T WE?
>
> WAS IT NOT STARTED BY ISLAMIC PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT IT TO OUR SHORES ON
>
> SEPTEMBER 11, 2001?
>
> AMERICANS, NOT BRUTALLY MURDERED THAT DAY, IN DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN, ACROSS THE
> POTOMAC FROM OUR NATION\\'S CAPITOL AND IN A FIELD IN PENNSYLVANIA?
>
> DID NEARLY THREE THOUSAND MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN DIE A HORRIBLE,
>
> BURNING OR CRUSHING DEATH THAT DAY, OR DIDN\\'T THEY?
>
> I DON\\'T CARE AT ALL.
>
> I\\'LL START CARING WHEN OSAMA BIN LADEN TURNS HIMSELF IN AND REPENTS FOR
> INCINERATING ALL THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE ON 9/11.
>
> OF WHICH IS A CRIME IN SAUDI ARABIA.
>
> I\\'LL CARE WHEN ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI TELLS THE WORLD HE IS SORRY
> FOR HACKING
> OFF NICK BERG\\'S HEAD WHILE BERG SCREAMED
>
> THROUGH HIS GURGLING! , SLASHED THROAT.
>
> I\\'LL CARE WHEN THE COWARDLY SO-CALLED "INSURGENTS" IN IRAQ COME OUT AND
> FIGHT LIKE MEN INSTEAD OF DISRESPECTING THEIR OWN RELIGION BY HIDING IN
> MOSQUES.
>
> I\\'LL CARE WHEN THE MINDLESS ZEALOTS WHO BLOW THEMSELVES UP IN SEARCH OF
> NIRVANA CARE ABOUT THE INNOCENT CHILDREN WITHIN RANGE OF THEIR SUICIDE BOMBS.
>
> I\\'LL CARE WHEN THE AMERICAN MEDIA STOPS PRETENDING THAT THEIR FIRST
> AMENDMENT LIBERTIES ARE SOMEHOW DERIVED FROM INTERNATIONAL LAW INSTEAD OF THE
> UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION\\'S BILL OF RIGHTS.
>
> IN THE MEANTIME, WHEN I HEAR A STORY ABOUT A BRAVE MARINE ROUGHING
> UP AN IRAQI
> TERRORIST TO OBTAIN INFORMATION, KNOW THIS:
>
> I DON\\'T CARE.
>
> WHEN I SEE A FUZZY PHOTO OF APILE OF NAKED IRAQI PRISONERS WHO HAVE BEEN
> HUMILIATED IN WHAT AMOUNTS TO A COLLEGE HAZING INCIDENT, REST ASSURED THAT I
> DON\\'T CARE.
>
> WHEN I SEE A WOUNDED TERRORIST GET SHOT IN THE HEAD WHEN HE IS TOLD NOT TO
> MOVE BECAUSE HE MIGHT BE BOOBY-TRAPPED, YOU CAN TAKE IT TO THE BANK THAT I
> DON\\'T CARE.
>
> WHEN I HEAR THAT A PRISONER, WHO WAS ISSUED A KORAN AND A PRAYER
> MAT, AND FED
> "SPECIAL" FOOD THAT IS PAID FOR BY MY TAX DOLLARS, IS COMPLAINING
> THAT HIS HOLY
> BOOK IS BEING "MISHANDLED," YOU CAN ABSOLUTELY BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART
> OF HEARTS
> THAT I DON\\'T CARE.
>
> AND OH, BY THE WAY, I\\'VE NOTICED THAT SOMETIMES IT\\'S SPELLED "KORAN" AND
> OTHER TIMES "QURAN." WELL, JIMMY CRACK CORN AND ---- YOU GUESSED IT, I COULD
> NOT HAVE SAID THIS ANY BETTER MYSELF!
>
> IF YOU AGREE WITH THIS VIEW POINT, PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR E-MAIL FRIENDS.
> SOONER OR LATER, IT\\'LL GET TO THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FR THIS RIDICULOUS
> BEHAVIOR! IF YOU DON\\'T AGREE, THEN BY ALL MEANS HIT THE DELETE BUTTON.
>
> SHOULD YOU CHOOSE THE LATTER, THEN PLEASE DON\\'T COMPLAIN WHEN MORE
> ATROCITIES COMMITTED BY RADICAL MUSLIMS HAPPEN HERE IN OUR GREAT COUNTRY.