Conservative or Progressive Values, which one really makes America great?

Progressive. :D

Everything progresses, anyway. Pick any point in time, and think about what it would be like without progress changing it.

Both do, as long as they are tempered by moderates. The problem is there are the two sides that are poles apart stringently claiming there’s is the way to go and they ain’t budging. So they continue to pull away from the center and force people to choose…the least of the worst. They scream and pull so hard that they have stretched the country to the point there are really two countries now pretty much evenly divided. That makes it very hard for leaders to lead and do things for the common good, instead they do the things that benefit “their half” of the country,always at the expense of the other half.

And the moderates get slapped around like a bastard child until they look like they might agree some with one side and then they get the love. we all know this so why did i put it here?

Maybe it is erroneous to do so, but simply picking apart the words yields an answer (for me).

Conservative. Conservation. I’d sure hate it if we had chosen to conserve our way of life at any number of points in the past when things weren’t as good as they are today.
Progressive. Progress. This is what fuels change, what accounts for the improvements and progress we’ve made over the centuries.

“Conservative” to me implies that we’d be best off to “conserve” the status quo. “Progressive” implies that there’s still a lot of room for improvement and “progress” and that we should strive for better. I know which choice I think could make us great.

But don’t get me wrong, I do absolutely agree that moderation and balance is important in all things.

It’s some of the people that make it great, not the values. And it’s not that great.

A couple of points. Conservative doesn’t mean things don’t change and progressive doesn’t mean things get better. I used to be a computer technician. This was back in the days when a computer filled a room rather than your pocket. Some technicians would spend a lot of time diagnosing the problem, running test and checking signal levels, while others would simply start changing parts (we called it Easter Egging). Changing parts right away would work sometimes and the computer was fixed quickly. Other times, it made the problem worse. When the problem deteriorated, that’s when I was called to bail them out. The conservative route is methodical and sometimes time consuming but less likely to deteriorate the situation.

Changing things can be quick and beneficial or it can create problems that are very difficult to resolve. Improvement is the goal, random change is risky.

Progressive minds move the U.S.A. forward. that is the mind of a someone who is Progressive. That is their value. Conservative values help balance out the mass of majority who want to enjoy a certain life style for a long range of time. I believe Conservative values are more arranged with control and a common agreement attached to it. On the other hand, progressive values, are always experimenting, we find out newer things from these values. Via scientifically, socially, and artistically. It has always been this way. The fact that the U.S.A. even allows for progressive thinking is a win in itself compared to most other nations. The balance we have between Conservatives who predominately reside in the middle Americas, and the Liberals who predominately reside along the coasts of Americas creates one of the most diverse, and cultural nations in the world. It’s a funny thing in America. We were raised that the United States is united, we are one. That’s seems to be only true during war time, when the outside nations are telling us what to do, U.S. as a whole tends to not like that. The reality is, we are so rich in cultural diversity. Every state has its own distinction. Every state has its own cities. Each city has it’s own towns. And within those towns, different people socialize amongst themselves. So to answer your question. I believe both Conservative values and Progressive values make the U.S.A. really great. That is my perspective from living in San Diego, California.

Conservatives, at least old school ones, remembered that they were “conserving” – keeping the tried and true things that had proven value.

Liberals should remember that the root of that word comes from “Liberty.”

When we started out as a country, the old “tried and true” thing was the monarchy of King George III. However, we went in the direction of Liberty, a radical experiment to try something new in the world. Our birth was liberal. So I’d say that was the very definition of pivotal.

If we could Conserve that idea, both words converge on something great. Sadly, what I see coming from that direction lately is the conservation of the values of King George III.

@laureth The whole idea of America is based on intruding upon peoples anyhow. How could there have been something so “golden.” to hold onto, when we pretty much ravaged a land not our own. It’s about moving forward, progress.

@dreamwolf – I agree with your point, but except for the First Nations, who hasn’t overrun a land not their own? The Goths took over Rome, the Japanese took over from the Ainu, even the Aztecs took over the old Olmec land. Nobody’s where they used to be.

@laureth Agreed, and if no one is where they used to be, it must be because of progressive ideology. I think the things that had value back then, still have the same values today. The same values that were held back then, were coming from the same people that were enslaving America to their likings. Enslaving others, socially, racially, demographically and sexually. If it weren’t for progressive ideas, standing up and receiving justice, we would still be a conservative nation.

Ideally conservative would mean less spending and achance for balanced budget with even a chance for suplus and then you can get progressive with new uses of this surplus funds.

You’re making an assumption that it’s some kind of political values that make America great. I’d say “neither of these”. What makes – or has made or at one time did make – America great was private property, private enterprise, wide latitude on all kinds of freedom, and concurrent attitudes to “leave people alone” and “to help out when needed”, as well as an occasional acknowledgement of errors made and attempts at reconciliation and correction.

Don’t hold your breath on that latter now.

The question is rather meaningless. It would be interesting, however, to see how people would answer this if they were looking back at moments in history, like slavery, womens’ suffrage, early labor movement, consumer rights, civil rights, gay rights, etc.

Would we seriously sit here and argue the pros and cons of progressive vs. conservative values? I have a sneaking suspicion we would all be in agreement that progressive values made for a better country.

@tom_g

On some issues we might very well agree with that. We certainly would not if we were talking about the inter-war period between the World Wars. “Wilsonian Democracy” was a joke. Some other progressive values, such as “free coinage of silver” nearly bankrupted the country at the turn of the 20th century.

And while you may not agree with “conservatism”, and a lot of people accused him of being a Tory at the time, it was John Adams and his conservative values that gave us the US Constitution, which is far more conservative than Jefferson wanted. Jefferson at the time was in love with French republicanism (the “progressive movement” of its day), and we saw where that led.

As I recall,Mother Russia went through a revolution with the outcome being very progressive, Communism. How’d that work out for them.

edit

Yeah, because America is so on it’s way to communism…...lol.

Well, yeah. Back in 1917 communismwas a very progrssive idea, still is. Socialism as well. while we were going through the Great Depression Russia didn’t suffer a depression like the rest of Europe. In fact they touted how much better their system was over the evil capitalism. We recovered, they didnot.

@Jaxk I’m not sure why communism was brought up, anyway. Although concerning America, progress has definitely helped us is various ways, and yes, some ways have not, but it does seem we’re always better off than we were in the past, right?

I’m sure we all know humans aren’t even capable of communism due to our nature, but we are capable of social and economic change, whether minute or large, to try to “perfect” our current system.

Actually, if you look around closest to you, you’ll probably see that “communism” thrives… even right here in America. It always has, and probably always will. “From each according to his ability; to each according to his need” is pretty much how most families are managed. Works pretty well. Much better than a “democratic” family, in which there’s universal suffrage and kids can “out-vote” (or at least filibuster) their parents.

Definitely conservative values. The period between the 1950s and the early 1960s was arguably the greatest period, in terms of values, in America. The crime level was much lower then, most people were enjoying a good standard of living, and moral standards were up there. Then came the late 60s and the 1970s, and so-called “progressive” values”, although they led to greater human rights (which was a positive thing in that respect), also led to a rapid and sad deterioration of moral standards, and an unprecedented increase in murders, sexual crimes, juvenile delinquency, divorce, and other social problems. And it only continues to get worse. :(

@CWOTUS No way, the kids just want their entitlements and handouts from the parents that actually work lol.

How do you define progressive?

I believe in liberal social programs.

Shockingly, everyone seems to have said ”my values (political or otherwise) make America great.” Couldn’t have seen that one coming. But I’d say that it was the wealth of different ideas being subjected to open debate and honest compromise—not just on the political level, but also in board rooms, factory floors, laboratories, and elsewhere—that made America great. When ideas stagnate, so do societies; public discourse and private prosperity go hand in hand.

Naturally, these are things I value. So again, no more surprises from me than from anyone else.

@CunningLinguist I agree.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir full marks! My exact sentiment, though the “And it’s not that great.” doesn’t mean it can’t be.
I hold great hope for this country.

There are conditions that require each approach. Being stuck in a single response to every condition is the quintessence of being an ideologue. That said, the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the other amendments to the Constitution wire all progressive ideas. Public education was a progressive idea. Conservatives fought bitterly against every one of them. The changes FDR put in place to help end the Great Depression and usher in the post-war book were all progressive ideas. Social Security, Bank regulation (till Republican conservatives gutted banking regulation.in 1999 and let wall street run amok once again in 2007.Medicare and Medicaid.were progressive ideas. Environmental protection was a progressive idea.

Progressivism is the way of things, things need to be fluid, able to evolve, change, and adapt to new situations and ideas to remain strong and growing or else we stagnate and die.

However, conservatism is still important as a balance of temperance. Social evolution has to be gradual on some level, as wild rampant growth will breed chaotic problems.