The Conservative Tree House may be called a Last Refuge for each of us for different reasons. Whatever trail through the woods brought us here, we have shared the turmoil of storms as we have been finding our voices as individuals in this growing community
Perhaps you’ve had some truly shockingly cruel things said to you purely because you believe in limited government and fiscal conservatism. Perhaps you not only to believe that we should be self-reliant and personally responsible, but also believe that when we are allowed to depend on ourselves, we are stronger, more successful, take greater pride in ourselves and our work, and are more likely to make positive contributions to society. And then we are happier people, or at least more likely to be happier.
Which lends to the following theory: Fear is at the core of liberalism, and love/trust is at the core of conservatism. Liberalism is about control. Conservatism is about self-empowerment.
Control is a reaction to fear. Think in terms or politics and society – the fear behind liberalism is the fear that someone might withhold things (opportunities, money, whatever) from me, fear that if you live your life in a way I dislike that it might affect my life, fear that if you get that job, there will be nothing left for me. Fear that if you make tons of money, it’s means there’s less money out there for me. So people who believe in liberal ideologies seek control as a means of trying to create guarantees and safeguards against those circumstances they fear. Liberals try to control the world and people to enable their comfort and happiness. Which, as we know, is an endless quest. Trying to control others does nothing in the way of making oneself happy. By extension, voting in this mindset so that government can try to control others will also – shocking – not lead to a happier, more comfortable life.
The conservative (and moderate, independent, but for the sake of expediency, the conservative), on the other hand, relies on himself to meet his own needs. And the trade off of being free to live his life as he wishes is also understanding that he has to make peace with how you live yours. By extension, aware that he wants to be able to hold onto this liberty and freedom forever, the conservative votes accordingly, so that everyone can remain free and in charge of his or her own life.
But here’s the crucial difference, perhaps, particularly where misery on the left stems: The conservative does not worry, so to speak, about you. The conservative knows that you were born with the same access to self-love, self-empowerment, self-determination and self-reliance that we all were, no matter the circumstances into which you were born. (Think about the millions of people this country has allowed to crawl up from poverty into prosperity – the conservative KNOWS this is possible.) And the conservative believes that if you want prosperity, or a good job, or a good education, you can make it happen – but you have to work hard. The conservative hopes and intends that the free markets bring you all of the affordable and positive opportunities and resources that you need. The conservative also knows that on the other side of that hard work is great reward – material and, more importantly, emotional, spiritual and mental.
The conservative understands that not only is it a waste of time to try to control you, it’s actually impossible. Humans were born to be free. And if we put a roadblock in front of you, you’ll find another way around it. So we see attempts at control as a waste of resources, energy and time at best, and at worst, creating detrimental results that serve to hinder people’s upward mobility or teach dependence. We see much more efficiency, as well as endless opportunity, in leaving you to your own devices. And we want the same in return.
This is where democrats mis-view republicans as heartless. But really, the conservative believes that there is one and one path only to sustainable success and independence – and that is self-empowerment. All other avenues – welfare, affirmative action, housing loans you can’t actually afford – ultimately risk doing a disservice to people as they teach dependence on special circumstances, the govt, or arbitrary assistance (that can disappear tomorrow). And the real danger – they will ALWAYS backfire, and leave the recipient in equally or more dire circumstances. Any false improvement will always expire.
The conservative believes in abundance. The liberal believes in scarcity.
The conservative believes man is born free and will be who he is, no matter what arbitrary limitations or rules are put on him. The liberal believes man is perfectible, and by extension, believes a society at large is perfectible, and command and control is justified in the quest to a “perfect” utopian society. (Sounds familiar!)
The conservative tends to be more faithful – and not necessarily in God, but in the ability of the individual to find great strength in himself (or from his God) to get what he needs and to be successful. Therefore the conservative has an outlet for his fear and disappointment – trust and faith in something bigger. The liberal believes the system must be perfected in order to enable success. Therefore disappointment is channeled as anger and blame at the system. Voids are left to be filled by faith in the govt, which they surely then want to come in and “fix” things.
And therein lies the roots of love and fear respectively. For the conservative, when life presents great struggles, he knows he has the power to surmount them. Happiness stems from internal strength and perseverance. For the liberal, when life presents great struggles, the system failed, therefore they were at the mercy of a faulty system, and they believe that only when the system is fixed can their life improve. Happiness is built on systemic contingencies, which they will then seek to control or expect someone else to.
One blames himself. The other blames anyone and everyone but himself.
And there it is. There’s where the meanness comes from. The liberal ideology causes that person to cast anger at the world when things go wrong or appear “unfair.” He constantly chooses only to see the “injustices” – and that makes for a very miserable, mean, blame-casting existence.
One last point that we have seen over and over and over with many (not all) of our liberal friends: Extreme stinginess and cheapness.
In our conservative community growing up, we were always taught that you give when people are in need – make donations to the Red Cross when there’s an earthquake, donate to charity when you can afford it, etc. Even if it’s just $50 here and there – it’s the right thing to do. Conservatives see this as the responsibility that comes with gaining from the capitalistic system; if you happen to benefit greatly from the system, it’s your duty to give back.
The liberal, on the other hand, does not seem to share this same viewpoint, at least not in my experience. And perhaps think this is linked to believing in scarcity, and that your dollar comes at the cost of mine. So it seems that liberals, on some level of consciousness, feel guilty about not being voluntarily charitable. Therefore, to write off their guilt, they outsource their “generosity” to the government by voting for wealth re-distributive policies. Thus, the liberal cheats himself of the joy and addictiveness of direct generosity. (Not to mention – re distributive policies ALWAYS end up dis-empowering those who they’re meant to help.)
However each of us got here, it’s probably a fact that we have the turmoil of those storms in common, perhaps some unease that we could share and always, we also find fresh ground to cover from day to day. We’re developing valuable relationships as we trust one another in our community in the woods. The chatting in the branches encourages, strengthens and equips for some serious walking.
We think the Treehouse is a good armory for those who doing long distance walking for the sake of our nation. We hope you’ll think so, too. Find yourself a good branch….or just pull up a rock to the campfire.
hiii
Trayvon Scheme article released on Lucianne today is prize wining brilliant reporting, high class watch dog journalism ! Congratulations. Reading your home page definition requires me to ask, why do you call all the destructive, “fear” driven destructionists in your otherwise beautiful statement, why do you call them “liberal” ? It’s what we libertarian, free market, Austrian school advocates call ourselves, and have always called our Founding Fathers. LIBER is the Latin root word for FREEDOM. The Marxists started using the word, “liberal” in 1920 as a deceptive substitute for communism, socialism, statism, collectivism, totalitarianism, authoritarianism, ALL THE THINGS THEY ARE!
They have always used it as FAKE ID. How else could they have made the advances towards a less free society if they had used the word Communism. Our asleep culture has given them a pass, and now good people like you still use the word, liberal, I am befinning to believe, because YOU are fearful of calling them by ALL of their true names. Just like all the well meaning dolts on Fox TV News, “fair and balanced”, There is always a socialist on any of their panels, and nobody EVER calls them a socialist or communist.
Don’t you get it? You’re one word away from being truly effective ! (progressive, too)
What have you got to say ?
Thanks for permalinking “About Us” to the Treehouse manifesto. That will help more folks find it, I think.
If you are a true conservative check out this place I found called the” Last rRefuge”. Vey cool and sums up what conservatisim is to me and the differences we have with the Liberal mind set in general.
I love conservatives showing off their ignorance, malice, and hypocrisy. On a page about Paul Krugman the editor calls him a “scumbag” and an “asshole” and right next to that is a link asking for prayer requests (insert obvious WWJD joke here). Then the rest of the commentors go on to say or imply that they would either kill or beat him in the street. Nice bunch of Christians you have here. Should I blame the schools or the churches for your lack of morality and civility?
If you are referring to the article where Krugman talks about 9/11, as I believe you are, you are trying to make a very ridiculous point, given the premise of Krugman’s words. Why is it always perfectly fine for a liberal to sling vicious words, and they get so upset to find a conservative passionate about their beliefs. I remember your dear leader instructing people to “get in their faces” and to “not bring a knife to a gun fight.” Hypocritical much?
Please show me where Dr.Krugman has ever advocated violence. I have read his books, his blog, and his column for years and he has never said a word about resorting to violence. Do you really think that he was literally suggesting that people shouldn’t fight against guns with knives? Smart much?
So very sorry for the confusion. Those quotes were Obama’s when he was encouraging his followers to get in the faces of the opposition. Now, being reasonable, I might have once assumed he was speaking metaphorically, but since you liberals want to take everything literally, justify that. Also, exactly which thread here are you referring to about Krugman?
My criticism stands: people who claim to be Christians on this site have called for the beating and execution of Dr. Krugman. How do you respond?
So turn us in to Attaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatch.
Good one!
Yes, yes! Please do! Big Brother needs to know our sins, Comrade!!
1) You ever read Ecclesiastes? Or at least listened to the Peter, Paul & Mary version?
2) Have you ever heard the term “Talking Trash?” or the cruder version “Talking Sh!t?”
3) You ever have such frustration with a person/ situation, that you vent by talking crap, thus excising your negativity lest it rot and fester within? And then once you’ve talked enough crap, the negativity is gone and you can move on helping make the world a better place?
4) Finally, what’s your problem with violence? Are you judging my lifestyle choices? How . . . judgmental and intolerant!
There is such a thing as righteous anger you know. Jesus practiced it himself.
ADD: Perhaps you could tell exactly what post you are referring to – maybe copy and paste the offending text here to bolster your argument. I do not recall anyone mentioning the word “execution”. Maybe a little something like, “I’m mad enough to kick his azz”.
So you think that the one example of Jesus turning over the money changer’s tables in the temple is enough of an excuse to call for the beating and killing of a man who has never called for violence? Really? Are we worshiping the same God?
I really dislike this righteous indignation of yours. Please copy and paste the offending text, and we can discuss it.
How long are you going to pursue this circular argument? What is your real objective? I’d love to kick Krugman’s ass, myself. Now what?
Was Jared Loughner practicing “righteous anger”? Was Anders Breivik righteous?
Those folks actually murdered people with real guns. As far as I know, nobody here has done that, or would do that.
Neither of those men had one thing to do with our beliefs, or in common with us, much as you would love for it to be that way. When will you liberals learn that you cannot just say something and make it be true.
Ass. Pitch a bomb, then run to another thread.
Now you’re crossing the line. If you want to know later where it happened. There it was.
If this assclown doesn’t respond with a direct quote of a Treeper “calling for the execution” of Krugman, I’d respectfully ask the moderators to ban him from this site so he doesn’t waste any more of our time.
I wonder when they started allowing computers in the psych ward??
Same time the started letting ‘em vote, apparently.
Alright, I will leave you all to your bubble…er, treehouse. I was Googling Paul Krugman when I came across this site calling him a leftist scumbag and when I checked it out, much to my surprise, you all call yourselves Christians. That made me “righteously angry”. Shame on you who drag our wonderful religion through the mud in the name of politics.
Yet again, I ask you for that link.
Run away, little bombthrower, run away!!
Honestly, I think your righteous anger and shame is directed at the wrong side of the aisle, Buddy. Open your eyes much?
And last I checked, you were the only one bringing religion into what was apparently an economic discussion. WTF?
Leftist scumbag describes him pretty well – he would call me a right wing wacko (and I think you might also call me that). That, however, is far from calling for his execution.
Trust me…..the SHAME is all yours.
P.S.: Are you a member of Clan Donnachaidh of the Carolinas?
I think his group is Clan of the Leftist Butt Tamales.
That one goes on the wall!
As it should!
I just googled Paul Krugman and got 2.3 million results. I can’t believe our little blog comes up in the first 10 pages even. Sounds convenient.
Later Thought (6:47 PM): Maybe you were googling “Paul Krugman Scumbag”.
I think I found the “offending” post. The comments include, among others, a post from ZMalfoy fantasizing about Krugmann getting his a$$ kicked by a bunch of Girl Scouts from Catholic schools.
Perhaps we were a bit too hard on Paulie. Girl Scouts rank right up there with killer rabbits among rabid lefist tools.
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2011/09/11/nyt%e2%80%99s-leftist-scumbag-paul-krugman-bashes-america-on-911-%e2%80%9cthis-has-become-an-occasion-for-shame-the-nation-knows-it%e2%80%9d%e2%80%a6/
If that is indeed the post he meant (and I suspect it is) . . . f*ck, what a pu$$y this guy is. . . really? We were expressing our outrage over some despicable writing . . . Only person who was rightfully irritated at anything I wrote was Coyote, when I made a joke about bringing popcorn to the beatdown, reminding me that that day is not a day for popcorn. The rest was crap talk. Well, mostly. Some of us around here can carry through on our words . . .
In the meantime, who want to join in a prayer: “Shepherds we shall be, for Thee, my Lord, for Thee . . . “
Right! And while I’m waiting for my other comment to get out of moderation, (prolly from the girl scout refs), let me just ask how he could be so upset by our jokes about girl scouts beating up Paul Krugman, but not be offended in the least by the truly horrid things that Krugman himself said in that NYT piece? That’s really shocking.
(I just let 2 of ‘em out……I see…you changed your name and that prolly got you labeled as a ‘newbie’.)
Thanks, Puddy!
I make it a habit not to pizz off the nuns….
You’re a good kitten that way!
I think you’re right Finch. And that explains why Andrew was so offended by the post. He’s probably also stiffed a few girl scouts for cookie money, and their revenge beatings are still a sore point for him. I just looked it over, and not only does it not mention anything about forcing the “ultimate punishment” on Krugman, but overall we showed enormous comic restraint in mocking him. Trolls will be trolls, I guess.
I tried it and, sure enough, we came up as the second result if you add the word “scumbag”. Weasel Zippers comes up first.
Well, did you check the Weasel Zippers post to see if little Andrew showed them the same level of righteous anger that he showed us? Hmmmmm?
Good idea, Sister! Very odd name for a nun, by the way.
They have closed their comments on that particular post. BTW that google search produced 716,000 results. Apparently, many other people think Paul Krugman is a scumbag.
Shocked! Shocked, I am!
Apparently this little man has some bad feelings about girl scouts and was probably beaten senseless by one in 4th grade. Has never had a date since then. Probably got booted out of Zuchinni park because he couldn’t get along with the occupoopers either. He has nowhere else to go. Ronulans probably wouldn’t let him in to their party either. Hasn’t been out of the basement since 2005. It’s amazing that he can get intertube connections with that Commodore 64. Krugman is probably the only guy who’ll talk to him.
Oh for Kentucky Fried Chickens!
It wasn’t just me. The world did go *full on stupid* today, even downtown.
Did someone put up a “psychos apply here” sign today here at the treehouse or what?
I should have just stayed at the farm with my dog. Everyone has been completely stuck on stupid, all day long. Well, with the exception of the regular Treepers…
Hey, thanks for that last sentence, there! Whew!
The butt tamale was merely an aberration. I blame the lack of globull warming.
Yeah I totally gotta agree with the Coyote. This day was completely nutz. Good thing about that last sentence and that mimicked my last part of the day as well. Thanks to a good buddy who provided me with the saving “last sentence” of my day which of course was a fine, extra fine bottle of 16 year old Bushmills in me while the bottle lay naked on the floor.
You’re a poet, GFC. Sounds like a limerick:
This day like eternal perdition.
Makes me long for an Irish tradition.
Where the Bushmills is old,
And more precious than gold.
Cast away empty in rapid attrition!
You’re welcome! Did it really last 2 days with all the sharing you had to do? Good! And I’m glad the Treehouse was a source of comfort for you during the last 2 days. There are certainly some fine folks here.
Yup, I cannot tell a lie. It lasted January 26TH (my b-day) from 11:25 pm to January 27TH 2:30 am. That’s two days right?
Well by golly it was certainly jolly. And BTW I drove home too. All 375′ of it from my sisters house. 
What did you drive? The riding lawnmower? That could be really dangerous. If you walked through the jungle, that could be bad, too. I hope you at least told the wife you were coming so they could send one of the dogs out to look for you in the weeds.
We have been praying for you GFC. You have been in our thoughts and hearts.
Just want to say that this website is great. Conservatives, believing in God, believing in America – what could be greater! I was surprised and delighted to see a Tammy Bruce video on the site – while I don’t understand or agree with her lifestyle, or some of the things she supports, I know she is a freedom loving American who sees through the sludge of the left. And you gotta love a woman who is photographed with a gun. Good for her! And good for you – conservatives are the tolerant ones and I think she knows it.
Gem of a site! Just spent hours reading through a couple of threads. There’s some smart cookies hidden here.
This is so inaccurate. All you hear from conservative politicians is “let’s ban this” or “let’s outlaw that” so they can make America perfect. I actually thought this website was a joke.
Well, with your “name,” YOU appear to be the joke.
If a guest wants to have “relations” with kitchen countertops, that’s his prerogative.
True. Dammit, Barn, you’re so reasonable….. I hate it when you make me think…… there’s jokes in here, somewhere,……
Never get too close to a lamanated formicator.
Those are some words to live by Puddy!
What in the world were you reading on here that leads you to believe we want to ban this and that? Now, if you mean banning dear leader and outlawing his thuggishness, I guess you’re right. With regards to much else, I would respectfullydisagree. I shall not speak for others but I would be willing to bet that most of us would rather just be left alone. Look around a little bit more before you make your final pronouncement from on high.
Ooooooooohhh, I know. Dicker’s thinking of the EPA and got confused. Our website and theirs look just alike.
Sometimes I seem to wake up in that parallel universe when I see this kind of stuff!
If I understand right, Tex, this guy is skeptical of our Treehouse Manifesto up top, which could be summarized: “Fear is at the core of liberalism, and love/trust is at the core of conservatism. Liberalism is about control. Conservatism is about self-empowerment.” I think he’s saying that conservatives aren’t like that at all. You know… because he knows conservatives so well.>/i>
Ain’t this typical of the cognitive dissonance between the way that righties and lefties see each other, though? Libs always claim that conservatives are Theo-Nazis who want to enforce some (imaginary) moral theocracy on everyone. This is their perception (it’s wrong), but in actual practice, real conservatives always push for freedom within fairly broad moral constraints (murder not allowed; deal with it). Libs claim to be loose with the rules, but in actual behavior (paradoxically) they only know how to constrain freedom with more and more rules that tend to be inequitable (eat the rich, my baby has no rights). That’s the way this guy is, right? All he sees is conservatives restricting everyone, but in reality, his pResident is killing us with enviro-nazi laws, repro-rules, job-killing XOs and giveaways to everyone but normal people. Who’s the nazi, right?
That all sounds real good there Grunt, but you know it’s true that we conservative fascists really want all the animals dead. Water so polluted we can’t drink it and for our ladyfolk to be barefoot and pregnant all the time.
You will never convince them of what they don’t want to see. We try to do right by God. Lefties think their politicians ARE God. Sad.
Obama’s not God? Good luck with that! Well, it’s true that we like our animals on the plate next to the potatoes, we never drink water (yuck), and we like our womenfolk to be popping out fresh little hunters and fishermen pretty regularly. Oh, and you forgot planet-raping. But we know how to have a good time!
Grunt,
The real problem here is that these kinda of lefties do not know, understand or believe in Good and Evil. Because if you believe in evil then you are forced to be accountable for something and they don’t want to be accountable for anything of truth when it comes down to it. I can see right through these types so easily. They must counter all the good in the world to justify there posistions otherwise they might have to change or be held accountable and that will never happen because then it means their life is a lie and mistake and they are to blind and proudful to ever admit that. NOT A CHANCE! A snowball in Hell has a beeter chance at surviving than they do at admitting they are wrong. That they have made huge mistakes in their lives that has led them to DARKNESS (which they must deny in order to continue living in darkness). It is easy to say “I believe in evil” and to apply it to your daily life and life itself is another thing.
Oh, I think they believe in good(they call it “recycling”) and evil(they call them Republicans). Otherwise they’re pretty vague on that… true.
The only joke that was here this day was YOU! Sorry you can’t appreciate what you don’t have and won’t ever get because of your PRIDE that keeps you in the darkness!
I’m all for conservatism as long as you don’t try to convince me the Republican party is conservative according to your above description.
The general consensus here (if I can be so presumptuous as to speak on the blog’s behalf) is conservatism is not being well represented by the old guard republicans. people like Newt, Sarah Palin, Allen West are our dream team. We embrace TEA Party ideals and would like to see a complete overhaul of the republican party. And you?
Just want to say I am glad I found your website. Thanks for all the coverage…truthful coverage…on the Trayvon Martin death. So much lies out there in the MSM about it.