Really. Why are conservatives so optimistic? I don't mean at this moment or for this election. I mean, why are they ALWAYS so freakin' optimistic? I know, you may argue that they are not. Yes, they do spew doom and gloom a lot and claim that we are in the “End Times” and shit like that. But when you come right down to it, they really are a pretty optimistic (and self-confident) lot. They really thought that Romney would win, even after the election was called by the networks. That's optimism! But it goes beyond that, way beyond.
I mean, really! Conservatives have been wrong on just about every major, defining issue of the time since this country was founded. Wait, I may be a little off there, not JUST ABOUT every defining issue, EVERY DAMN DEFINING ISSUE! Yeah, that's much better. Let us review...
This is not a complete list, or even a very comprehensive one, just off the top of my head...
Let's see, the American Revolution... Next!
Our system of government... We started with the Articles of Confederation (which these idiots wish to return to), and that did not work. We needed a federal government.
Slavery. I ain't even gonna explain this one. NEXT!!!
Women's right to vote (and own property, and not BE property, and other stuff like that): NEXT!
Child Labor Laws
Public Education
Regulation of the Financial Industry to Avoid Great Depresssions
Insurance of Bank Deposits to Avoid Bank Runs (and Great Depressions)
Social Security (the very EXISTENCE of it!) Wait, this is important. THE VERY F**KING EXISTENCE OF IT!
Right to Vote Laws
Air Pollution, smog, etc.
Water Pollution
Medicare
I give up on this list. I only made it to the sixties or so (and I skipped a lot). So, no Global Warming, LGBT rights, etc. The list is too long. I could go on and on (but please feel free to add to it, profusely. It shouldn't be very difficult).
Politcal parties and coalitions are always in flux. But conservatives have been on the wrong side of ALL of the above issues!
So, how can a group of people be so wrong, so consistently, horrifyingly wrong, and still be convinced that they are correct on EVERYTHING? This is despite the fact that they are traditionally wrong on everything. Sure, there is racism as a factor, and fear, and hatred.... But can any of these things totally explain why they vote against their self-interest, over and over and over... I think their eternal optimism MUST be a factor.
This is why conservatives dance to the polls every election day. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the time that they are finally right. That's not the way they see it, they think they are always correct. Facts are irrelevant, anyone who disagrees with them is an apostate.
But you gotta be pretty damned optimistic to be a conservative.
I do not want to belong to any philosophy that does not allow questioning or reason.
But maybe, just maybe, progressives could use a bit more optimism.
Hey, it could happen. I am hopeful! At least until I get my latest doom and gloom email from the DNC or some such purveyor of despair. Sigh.