By: Paul J. Moloney

Paul J. Moloney — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:26:26 +0000

I can hardly believe that new gun law is true. The thinking behind it seems to be, if you cannot reason with someone than shoot that person. It seems that those in love with guns are the ones with whom one cannot reason, but they are the ones with the guns.

By: Nina Rosenstand

Nina Rosenstand — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:01:55 +0000

Yes, a European Conservative is in many ways a whole different animal—most importantly, there is no traditional/politically expedient connection to a Religious Right, mainly because the Religious Right have established their own parties within the parliamentary systems. When Conservatives can be in government without their support, they often choose that path (also because of expediency. Politics is politics…). And a hundred years of social democracy does matter. By and large, the European Conservative is what we would call a traditional “Liberal” in the John Stuart Mill sense: Greater personal freedom and less government intervention, emphasis on personal responsibility (including a certain amount of responsibility for each other—a traditional European Ethic of Care on the Right), and lower taxes. Fiscal rather than social conservatism. A good example is the former Danish Prime Minister, now Sec-Gen of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. You can find that general philosophy among American Conservatives, too. But come on…it isn’t as if American Conservative politicians make a habit of advocating violent coups, or gun ownership without background checks…

Comments on: Conservatism European Style

By: Paul J. Moloney

By: Nina Rosenstand