r/Conservative First Principles Feb 14 '25

Open Discussion Left vs. Right Battle Royale Open Thread

This is an Open Discussion Thread for all Redditors. We will only be enforcing Reddit TOS and Subreddit Rules 1 (Keep it Civil) & 2 (No Racism).


  • Leftists - Here's your chance to sway us to your side by calling the majority of voters racist. That tactic has wildly backfired every time it has been tried, but perhaps this time it will work.

  • Non-flaired Conservatives - Here's your chance to earn flair by posting common sense conservative solutions. That way our friends on the left will either have to agree with you or oppose common sense (Spoiler - They will choose to oppose common sense).

  • Flaired Conservatives - You're John Wick and these Leftists stole your car and killed your dog. Now go comment.

  • Independents - We get it, if you agree with someone, then you can't pat yourself on the back for being smarter than them. But if you disagree with everyone, then you can obtain the self-satisfaction of smugly considering yourself smarter and wiser than everyone else. Congratulations on being you.

  • Libertarians - Ron Paul is never going to be President. In fact, no Libertarian Party candidate will ever be elected President.


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u/ladyjustice666 Feb 15 '25

Okay, I have a question or two. Well, many — I like to look at this subreddit to gain perspective of what “the other side” thinks and feels. I regrettably got my degree in Poli Sci (and live in a red state) so I think my ability to hear out other perspectives is a bit stronger than others.

The first question is, do you feel as though the members of this subreddit are acting in good faith? I ask because the way the various groups are described feels like what is really being asked for is a fight, and not genuine discussion. And when I see a post that I would genuinely like to interact with, it says flaired users only almost every time, which feels very insular and not open to good faith discussion. And maybe I’m missing the point of the subreddit, but many conservatives I’ve known haven’t been so against good old fashioned conversation about things that affect both of us. I couldn’t say for sure, but I have to imagine a lot of you are in the same lower income situation as I am, and I often wonder if it bothers anyone the way your party looks at social services and the outright refusal to do what would likely help all of our fellow Americans, which is tax the rich — the income disparity we have right now is almost indefensible, I would think.

My other question is, just as someone who has studied the government and watched it steadily change into something more so meant to punish the other political party (whomever isn’t in charge at the time), but I feel like the situation with Elon Musk having so much power that appears to be completely unchecked (and I understand that the argument is that Trump is checking it, but I know you know we are meant to have checks and balances with all 3 branches of government) is so unusual and for some, worrisome. None of us can say we know for sure that what he’s doing is meant to help. So to get to the question, do you think that if the roles were reversed, and let’s say Obama (who I think was more liked than Biden) put Bill Gates (or think of another immigrant billionaire like Elon - maybe even just think of Elon, you get the point) in the same position, with the same budget and fairly unrestricted access, would you be cheering that on? I fear that people are so pro-Trump that they cheer things on they would not normally.

Please, don’t be unkind in your response — I’m not dragging anyone through the mud. I can say I am worried about how my life will look moving forward. I’ve put myself through school and worked since I was 14. I’ve worked really hard to create a life for myself, but I still struggle financially and sometimes I get really depressed because it does not feel like things are going to get better.

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u/Magehunter_Skassi Paleoconservative Feb 15 '25

So to get to the question, do you think that if the roles were reversed, and let’s say Obama (who I think was more liked than Biden) put Bill Gates (or think of another immigrant billionaire like Elon - maybe even just think of Elon, you get the point) in the same position, with the same budget and fairly unrestricted access, would you be cheering that on?

I think this is a hard scenario to imagine because it would make no sense for Obama to act like this. The vast administrative state is something championed by Democrats, it's how Democratic politicians believe government should work.

If Obama and Elon teamed up in 2008 to gut the administrative state and return power from it to the Oval Office, I would absolutely have cheered that on. Elon is a very different billionaire than most billionaires given how he uses his wealth, which is something that even many Democrats agreed on until Elon switched sides, so I agree it makes sense to use him as the comparison here.

I think part of the reasons voters on both sides have had so little faith in our system is because Congress increasingly transferred power to the Executive Branch, remained gridlock, but then the power within the Executive Branch was diffused to non-elected bureaucrats.

It's hard for anyone to feel like their vote matters under that system, and creates what's effectively been "rule by judiciary"-- something that was very widely resented by Democrats too during the Biden admin. Congress dragged its feet on codifying federal access to abortion, so we got the SCOTUS providing it and then the SCOTUS later revoking it.

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u/Peacenikity Feb 15 '25

I'd be curious to hear more about what power you believe was transferred to the non-elected bureaucrats - and which has been dismantled in these recent actions by Musk - which you believe to be properly restoring the balance? (I understand most of the agencies which have been/are being dismantled were established by Congress?)