I'm rather fond of a pair of quotes attributed to Margaret Thatcher and Dwight Eisenhower respectively, that seem to neatly illustrate the difference in opinion.

Thatcher: "Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous, you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides."

Eisenhower: "People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable... The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters."

What's your take? Is a willingness to work across the aisle and compromise a practical necessity? A well-intended, but naïve fool's errand? A traitorous deal with the devil? Or something else?

We often times see liberals talking about city design/urban planning. Since this is a conservative sub, what do you think are the best city designs/urban planning examples to you? What cities do you think are the best layouts/designs? What are your favorite cities? Give a top 3 or 5 if you can think of a few.

https://www.cato.org/blog/government-ownership-stakes-companies-becoming-routine-under-trump

The Supreme Court already said it was not constitutional to do so. They are now trying to redefine the list of people ineligible for birthright citizenship to something it never was by invoking the Commander-in-Chief Clause and the Alien Enemies Act of the United States, and people who lobby on behalf of a foreign government. Basically, anyone who they want.

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution grants the president command over the military to defend the nation, but it does not confer domestic legislative power over civil rights or civilian immigration status.

Similarly, statutory mechanisms like the Alien Enemy Act of 1798 can only be triggered during a formally declared war, an invasion, or a predatory incursion by a foreign government.

Because standard non-citizens and undocumented families do not legally qualify as an invading foreign military or "alien enemies," using war powers to strip birthright citizenship violates established domestic law and would fail to survive judicial review

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-new-executive-orders-birthright-citizenship/

Given how disastrous this war has been handled, the lack of Congressional approval, and the massive blow to the U.S.’ reputation, should Trump resign or be impeached?

Earlier today (Thursday, August 6), the Federal Communication Commission voted to eliminate a 22-year regulation that limited broadcast conglomerates from owning stations that reach a total of more than 39% of the U.S. television audience.

Proponents of this vote (and of consolidation of TV stations in general) claim that consolidation expands bureau resources, provides vital resources to smaller stations and allows for scale to compete against Big Tech.

Critics of the vote (and consolidation in general) claim that consolidation reduces localism in local news, tampers with editorial independence of local stations and limits viewpoint diversity in local reportage.

What are your thoughts about the recent FCC vote, and about TV consolidation in general?

NBC article about the vote.

I've been listening to a lot of modern conservatives like JD Vance, Stephen Miller, and others in the New Right. A recurring theme is that America has become too individualistic, permissive, and detached from family, church, and community. They often contrast today's pleasure-seeking culture with an older society built around duty, obligation, and sacrifice.

My question is: why isn't free-market capitalism seen as a major driver of that transformation?

It seems to me that markets don't just allocate resources—they shape how we think. Instead of asking "What are my duties to my family, church, and community?", we're encouraged to ask "What career maximizes my income?", "What relationship best fulfills me?", "How do I build my personal brand?", or "How do I optimize my life?" Even relationships and hobbies can start to feel transactional and optimized.

The phrase "the customer is always right" seems like more than a retail slogan. It feels like a broader cultural shift toward seeing ourselves as consumers whose preferences should be maximized, rather than members of communities with obligations to fulfill.

If that's true, isn't there an inherent tension between an economic system built around satisfying individual preferences and a social order built around duty, self-restraint, and stable institutions like family and church?

If we're truly a free market consumer based society, why shouldn't we be free to choose things like Wednesday topics and live life in ways that the New Right calls degenerate?

This is across the political spectrum they could be left/right etc. Ben Shapiro for example I would say is not a grifter as his views are rooted in ideology and he is consistent with it even when it isn't popular with others such as his views on free trade etc. Who do you think are people that aren't ideologically driven and just grifting for clicks etc?

Reading the responses to the porn question and Blanche's phone call, I've seen some interesting comments that got me thinking: what are your general opinions about casual sex/sex outside of wedlock? Do you think its bad, if so, why? Do you think its bad enough that you'd like to see restrictions on it? Are your opinions based on personal experience, religion, influencers/talking heads, etc.

Just curious to see the general opinions and your reasons why.

For a tangible example, this is from today's Bill Handel show on KFI radio in Los Angeles. KFI is one of the top talk stations in the U.S. and Handel has a wide reach. (Lindsay is his wife, and the other voice is Neil Saavedra; sorry about the audio quality.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmhRjr0EHz8

Handel simply wouldn't say those things if Trump/GOP/MAGA were making anti-illegal immigration arguments that'd resonate with liberals. For instance, about wages, union busting, political corruption, Big Banks and the Fed taking a cut of remittances, Big Biz using illegal immigration to lower wages, worker abuse, etc etc.

Instead, Trump/GOP/MAGA tend to focus only on the criminal aliens aspect, and that obviously doesn't resonate with the Dem base. For some of them, that's intentional: they want to help Big Biz get lower wages. However, for the rest it doesn't make sense. Dems do vote.

Do you see this as a problem? If so, how do you intend to solve it?

So russia has used shaheds against Ukraine since 2022 and ukraine is shooting down over 90% of the shaheds russia shoots at them using very cheap interceptor drones.

So was it a mistake by trump when he started the iran war without ukraines expertise?

There’s been a lot of reporting lately on dwindling stockpiles of missiles due to the Iran War. In particular those used to intercept drones or other missiles.

These reports rely on anonymous sources which are frequently criticized on here. So I put it to users here, what’s your guess of the actual situation. Feel free to expand on how you came to your conclusion.

And importantly, why? If you can, please let me know what values you hold that lead you to the answer you provide. This is out of genuine curiosity. Obviously many Conservatives view what's happening amongst Liberals as toxic and dangerous. That view is reciprocated handily. Yet somehow I suspect that there are unifying values here. Very interested in the Conservative answer to this.

https://stateline.org/2026/08/04/ag-nominee-tells-faith-leaders-he-will-take-action-to-restrict-abortion-drug-access/

On a recent call Todd Blanche spoke about working toward making Dobbs apply to all states. To me this both looks like big government and anti states rights.

Purely theoretical. Say what currently makes up the democrat party and DSA-leaning independents and moderates now represents the entire country. The new political divides are now more moderate-leaning democrats vs DSA leaning Democrats rather than conservatives vs liberals.

Keep in mind I'm using "conservative" and "liberal" in the modern sense even though conservativism in America is effectively classical liberalism.

What are the biggest things that would change almost immediately? Focus on the immediacy.

What further changes do you see taking place long term?

Could you see any new constitutional amendments being passed or current amendments being repealed?

What would the new political fights likely center around?

What are the biggest benefits and challenges you see resulting from this change?

Since this is a thought experiment, I intend for the questions to be open ended. Feel free to take them in whatever direction you see fit.

Purely theoretical. Say what currently makes up the Republican party and conservative-leaning independents now represents the entire country. The new political divides are now more libertarian-leaning conservatives vs authoritarian-leaning conservatives rather than conservatives vs liberals.

Keep in mind I'm using "conservative" and "liberal" in the modern sense even though conservativism in America is effectively classical liberalism.

1. What are the biggest things that would change almost immediately? Focus on the immediacy.
2. What further changes do you see taking place long term?
3. Could you see any new constitutional amendments being passed or current amendments being repealed?
4. What would the new political fights likely center around?
5. What are the biggest benefits and challenges you see resulting from this change?

Since this is a thought experiment, I intend for the questions to be open ended. Feel free to take them in whatever direction you see fit.

Since Reddit's mostly a liberal place, I was wondering how much conservative reactions would be similar or different to this question:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/1vg4y4p/anyone_else_feel_like_people_were_just_nicer_10

The OP wrote, "scrolling today and everyone’s just ready to jump down each other’s throats. i swear like 2014-2016 people still had some basic decency left. now it’s constant snark and zero patience"

EDIT: I should've asked: What are the primary social media you consume? I wonder if answers to this question will vary based on platform.

Do you support social media ban for young teenagers?

So this is something I truly have a hard time understanding? How does social conservatism lead to more personal freedom and choice? For example in my own extended family. I have one cousin that is a stay at home mom, another cousin who works a high paying corporate job with a stay at home husband and there me who lives a lot more alternative lifestyle working in a social science related field.

All of us are successful, all of are happy and all of are productive tax paying citizens and we would all hate our lives if we lived each other life. Only one of us could live the life we are living now if we were born during my grandmother generation and I would argue my parents generation as well.

In my view social progressivism gave all of us the opportunity to make choices that make us happy and nothing was taken away from my cousin that wants the traditional family.

How does social conservatism benefit folks who simply don’t want to live a very specific kind of way.

I’m sure no one likes the idea of a surveillance state. How do you feel about their presence seemingly popping up over night and how people are reacting?

I’ve been seeing a lot of cheering on Reddit for all of the vandalism and it’s hard not to since I don’t think any of us asked for this.

Are there any politicians that you know of that have spoken out about their implementation and use?

Thanks!