Do you think politics will shift more towards or away from your direction...

[tpfkaw]

In the short term, I can't really see the US political paradigm getting any less libertarian, although it never ceases to amaze me and I'm sure it will amaze me further.  In the medium term I'm sure the US and every other country will continue on the 20th-century path to ever-higher levels of statism, but in the long term technological progress will inevitably lead to the destruction of the state.

[dead0man]

Clearly the longterm trend across the planet is more freedom (thus closer to me).  Tougher to call on a nation by nation basis.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Short term : away from (I think the conservative movement will peak in the next 5 years)
Medium term : toward (the conservative cycle started in the 1970s is about to end)
Long term : toward (progress always wins in the long term)

[Franzl]

Long term : toward (progress always wins in the long term)

Progress depends on what you consider it to mean. I think moving in my direction would be progress, and I imagine dead0man thinks his views also represent progress.

[dead0man]

Can't all of us be right?  We all want fewer people starving.  We all want more people participating in their govt.  We all want women to have more rights.  We all want less disease and pointless deaths.  We all want less war.  That's progress.  People like us shouldn't be arguing about stupid sh**t (and really, most of what we argue about is stupid sh**t), we should be arguing together to get everybody on the same page with issues like the above.  Why do we let our trade partners do some of the horrible things we do?  I mean, there aint much we can do about the sh**t going on inside the borders of our enemies, but there is a lot we can do about the sh**t that goes on inside the borders of our major trading partners.  Yet we all sit on our hands and argue about teachers in Wisconsin or gun rights or prostitution.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Long term : toward (progress always wins in the long term)

Progress depends on what you consider it to mean. I think moving in my direction would be progress, and I imagine dead0man thinks his views also represent progress.

In theory, conservatives should be against progress (rejecting the even notion of progress) and favor preservation/restoration of what they consider to be the just order.

[Roemerista]

I for one see the "conservative" movement becoming more social libertarian, and even my moderate socical conservative leanings becoming unpalitable to the mass electorate. And this trend is not helped by my more shall I be kind and say "zealous" fellows.

And, in "theory" conservatives do not oppose "progress" in terms of change. Although the old saying goes that Conservatives love radicals that have been dead for a hundred years, Burke and the "classic" conservative thinkers call for "organic" progress.

[courts]

Long term : toward (progress always wins in the long term)

Progress depends on what you consider it to mean. I think moving in my direction would be progress, and I imagine dead0man thinks his views also represent progress.

In theory, conservatives should be against progress (rejecting the even notion of progress) and favor preservation/restoration of what they consider to be the just order.

The whole point of conservatism, at least the burkean/euro type not the confused hodgepodge here, is that change is fine but it has to be 'organic' (whatever that means) and measured. Nobody thinks change is automatically bad. Although the idea that somehow the 'left' automatically represents 'progress' and such things have any meaningful definition is a fallacy IMO. Western society needs to stop with this left-right gibberish, it barely made since 250 years ago it definitely doesn't now. Where after all would you put a regime like China in the political spectrum? It has socialist rhetoric and trappings but in practice it has more in common with something like Fascist Italy than 1970s Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba or the Soviets (and that's another thread entirely). Same could be said for parties like BNP or Jacobbik who have quite a bit of socialist overlap even if they're pretty much the furthest thing you can imagine from fuzzy internationalism. Or weird fringe movements like the libertarians (who are obsessed with classical LIBERALISM and reason and all that) or primitivists (all over the map) or various other cults (zeitgeist crowd anyone?).

[All Along The Watchtower]

Short-term: Away from (as Antonio said, the GOP "wave" of 2010 still has steam)
Medium-term: Towards ( this is the peak of the GOP "wave")
Long-term: Towards (the modern GOP is essentially a white backlash Party, which worked for the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, but won't work in, say, 2040)

[courts]

Long-term: Towards (the modern GOP is essentially a white backlash Party, which worked for the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, but won't work in, say, 2040)

That only wouldn't work if we continued present immigration policy and the overall racial paradigm which I don't think will last because we have such deep economic problems thanks to the aging population and unsustainable, fake economy we built up the last 30 years in particular. Not just stuff like ending affirmative action or reducing immigration levels but more serious, blatantly racial things like repealing the Voting Rights Act entirely, anti-discrimination laws, etc. and more lynchings. Now I really hope people have grown up enough that the majority won't scapegoat blacks, jews and mexicans but I honestly don't think we have. I think we just hide how we really feel and it's going to get nasty, especially since we will have had a 'kenyan' in the oval office during the start of a lot of the societal rot.

I for one see the "conservative" movement becoming more social libertarian, and even my moderate socical conservative leanings becoming unpalitable to the mass electorate. And this trend is not helped by my more shall I be kind and say "zealous" fellows.

What do you base that on? All I see is that people are coming to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter if you're gay or smoke pot or something... But that's not really an enormous shift. We're still a society that puts almost 2% of our population in prison and hasn't stopped zealously waging wars on abstract concepts even after >40 years of it obviously not working very well.

[LBJ Revivalist]

Short and long term: Away from.
I'm a New Dealer, Great Society Democrat. The future, sadly, is Glenn Beck style conservatism.

[Horus]

Socially I think we're doing fine. Nowhere to go but up.
Economically we improve on some issues and get worse on others.

[Roemerista]

I am fine with Gay Rights, I have a small caveat with gay marriage, but certainly not foaming about the mouth about it, if it doesnt come to pass in the way I see as "best." And yes, if you were to believe "Culture War?" there is only one real divisive "social issue" which would be abortion. Which, despite the majority being pro-death, has been trending recently to the pro-life side.

I do see "pot" as a huge negative shift. Perhaps I am just exaggerating people's weakening commitment to the war on drugs.  I see it as a lack of commitment to enforcing law to promote behavior that is beneficial to the quality of one's character. What started off as a right path is becoming more and more like anti underage drinking laws--a joke. 

[You kip if you want to...]

Short term: Towards (Labour's in the lead atm)
Medium term: Away (I think the Tories will get a majority at the next election)
Long term: Toward (I think in about 10 years or so, Labour will see another string of consecutive terms in power)

[Mr. Taft Republican]

Rachel Maddow is claiming politics have already shifted right so...I guess my side all the way.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

It's clearly going away from me with the disasterous Presidents that we've had for the last 30 years. It's pretty clear that Obama is part of the problem, and that things won't be any better in 2016. Obama screwed liberals for a generation. However, we should recover by 2061 and 2511.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Obama screwed liberals for a generation. However, we should recover by 2061 and 2511.

You can't say that. The Tea Party and all the populist trash that is going on could actually weaken considerably conservatism in the medium term. Whether or not Obama is reelected, I think the crazy conservative wave will die out in this decade and that progressivism will start regaining the lost ground.

[Napoleon]

I feel like we are moving to a more police state-like style of governance. So, in short, about as far away from my political positions as one could possibly get.

[opebo]

Away, always away.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Idealistically, the 'revolutionary left' in Melbourne would hope so, but they're out of their fucking mind.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Idealistically, the 'revolutionary left' in Melbourne would hope so, but they're out of their fucking mind.

'But things are different this time!'

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Short term: It's difficult to say at the national level... US... away

Medium term: Towards

Long term: No idea

[Platypus]

Short term: heading strongly conservative.

But then Abbott will actually get elected, and the reaction will be sharp and sustained, so medium term, towards. Long term...more nanny-statism, more social progression, less reactionary morality. Neutral I guess.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The picture in Europe looks far brighter now than it looked 6 months ago. See Italy, France, Germany, Denmark...

[Hash]

Short team: away from, Canada is becoming a crazy country with teabaggers growing like cancer

Medium term: the reaction in Toronto to far-right teabagger regressivism is heartening, so I figure towards.