What is the purpose of social conservatism? Is it necessary?

Define your terms…

What is social conservatism?

What is a progressive society?

Without knowing more about how you view these systems, one might make the argument that the most progressive societies are those which respect social conservatism.

For instance… Is it progressive for a society to be liberal with release of new drugs on the market which haven’t been tested thoroughly? Drugs which might cause unforeseen complications in the distant future of those who rush to take them.

Or would it be progressive for a society to exhibit conservative patience and security for the well being of its citizens over the agenda of big pharm?

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies Yeah good point. It is very difficult to create a solid definition. I was thinking along the lines of things that control individual decisions. Abortion, marriage, gender equality, racial equality, euthaniasia, porn etc.

Everything abnormal serves its purpose. Crime is necessary so that we know what’s to be punished and to retrench our solidarity. Either conservatives or liberals can think the above about one another. I say there are always in-groups and out-groups, people always create these.

Yes, I believe that, as a society, we benefit from having opposing opinions about any given topic, if only to make us actually consider what we are doing and how we are doing it. That being said, I do have a tendency to relate conservativism with the more negative aspects of our society such as rascism, paranoia, fearmongering, fascism, etc.

I’ve gotten into many heated arguments with others when I say this: conservatism is relative to each culture/nation it represents. I would say it depends upon the situation. Those issues you’ve mentioned above seem relative to certain individuals.

I’ve always had two simple philosophies I go by when trying to answer questions like this: 1. Treat others as you would want to be treated. 2. Your rights end where mine begin. We will never make all happy but these two statements are a good place to start in my opinion. Of course this still isn’t an easy question to answer.

It’s to keep those wacky liberals from pushing the place off to where angels fear to tread.I suspect that, arranged properly, liberalism and conservatism function as the gas and brake pedals for society, with some steering wheel thrown in.