I don’t think an idea just being old making it conservative is a good definition. I also think “left wing hates any self improvement” is a pretty wild one. Maybe it’s true of some sliver of people.
It depends which worldview you take on, but things like hard work and staying in shape have been called "fascist" by a left wing that sees any form of self-improvement as counter-revolutionary.
It seems to me that I was reading The Republic a couple weeks ago and Plato 2500 years ago was talking about the need for people to stay in shape in the gymnasium (not the same thing as today, but still a place to hone your body) so there's definitely precedent to call it conservative since it's a value held since antiquity.
criitz@reddthat.com 8 months ago
sj_zero 8 months ago
I don't know, it's really tough to say -- If you're reading old texts hoping to glean some wisdom, depending on the context that would definitely be conservative, but depending on the context it might not be. I was just talking about Wang Mang around 30AD, and he spent a lot of time digging up evidence of how imperial china was run 1000 years before he was born based on confuscian teachings from 500 years before he was born. On the other hand, at this point after 200 years of Marx you could claim marxism is conservative (and in fact Xi is really making a conservative maoist argument in his government right now hoping to return to the stricter times of his childhood)
Here's an interesting video on the idea of the left hating self-improvement. I won't claim it's universal, but the argument is somewhat convincing in light of many things I've seen far removed from this particular video including stuff like opposing technologies like cochlear implants that would make a deaf person non-deaf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Vf-ry-3rg
criitz@reddthat.com 8 months ago
Conservative does not mean old
phillaholic@lemm.ee 8 months ago
YouTube videos by randos aren’t sources. Liberals are not against cochlear implants. Some in the deaf community are against them.
sj_zero 8 months ago
Leftists aren't liberals.
The left was mostly aligned with liberalism some time ago, but they aren't the same thing and now the two are mostly incompatible.
PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks [bot] 8 months ago
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SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Greek gymnasiums were a hell of a fun time.
GnomeKat@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
You have an incredibly inaccurate view of left wing politics. Leftists don’t have a problem with staying in shape or self improvement. They do have a problem with discrimination against those who can’t stay in shape. Leftists are not opposed to cochlear implants, this is laughably inaccurate. Leftists are the ones pushing for universal healthcare. Leftists want free college so people can improve themselves. They want workers to have more power, trade unions are full of some of the most hard working people in America. The only part about Taylor Swift that aligns with American conservatism is that she became incredibly rich by having rich banker parents fund her music career from a very young age.
You really should try to see what actual leftists are advocating, not some culture war garbled YouTube videos are telling you.
sj_zero 8 months ago
I'd say you have a pretty inaccurate view of left wing politics.
Which is understandable. There's been a major shift in the past 15 years that really fundamentally changed the mainstream left.
You and I probably have similar political views in many ways, but when you stand in a stream, you don't have to move for the water to pass you by.
Better open your eyes before it's too late -- you'll get your bank account shut down for wrongthink.
GnomeKat@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
No really, you are the one who has no idea what the left is advocating. I am very involved in leftist politics. If you agree with the things I said you are likely more aligned with the left than you think…
No idea what the bank account comment is about… sounds like some weird conspiracy theory stuff, really dawg lay off the utube videos
sj_zero 8 months ago
It was weird conspiracy theory stuff when the Liberals and NDP illegally invoked the emergencies act to shut down the bank accounts of people contributing to a peaceful protest.
I'll lay off the conspiracy theory channels of... the house of commons video feed.
phillaholic@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Where are you getting your information from? Teenagers on TikTok or Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account?