The Big Stick/Mike

About

"Mike" is the owner and sole blogger of The Big Stick, a WordPress-based blog. When commenting on Blogger-hosted blogs, he generally goes by the screen name "Mike at The Big Stick", though he has also used the name "Progressive Conservative".

This page is mainly for the cataloging of Mike's views as expressed both on The Big Stick and in other public fora.

Related Pages

• En Tequila Es Verdad/progressive conservatism: transcript of debate between Mike and Woozle

Views

Ideologies

progressivism

• 2009/01/13/0850 Progressivism simply means seeking change. It means acknowledging that society isn't perfect, that it is in constant motion and that we can't just put the brakes on and pretend we live in Mayberry...we must progress or die.
• 2009/01/13/1301:
  • It acknowledges that necessary change is a good thing.
  • Sees change toward an earlier state as satisfying the definition of "progress".
    • Example: Conservatives want stricter anti-abortion laws; liberals don't. This makes conservatives more "progressive".

liberalism vs. conservatism

• 2009/01/13/1301:
  • "I believe liberals are more inclined to throw money around versus a free-market approach on the right."
  • Benjamin Disraeli had it right: "In a progressive country, change is constant; and the great question is not whether you should resist change, which is inevitable, but whether that change should be carried out in deference to the manners, the customs, the laws and traditions of a people, or whether it should be carried out in deference to abstract principles, and arbitrary and general doctrines."
    • "I think a contemporary reading of this is just that we conservatives want change that doesn't seek to remake our society (because we think it's basically pretty good)."
  • "We also tend to think there is such a thing as an 'American way of life' however silly that may sound to ears on the Left."
  • "Of course our pitfall is often an aversion to change to the point where we make ourselves look foolish in the face of overwhelming desire for something new from the populace."

abortion

• 2009/01/13/1301:
  • Conservatives want "progress" towards stricter laws; liberals want to keep the laws the way they are - "no wiggle room".
    • Note: This presumes that liberals would not like to see "necessary change" toward more liberal laws.
  • Offers the following compromise positions, both of which he says are offering more of a concession than liberals have been willing to offer:
    • "...there is a growing conservative voice (I would contend a majority) that is willing to compromise to achieve at least partial goals. For example, many of us are willing to make the Big Three exceptions(rape, incest, health of the mother) across all three trimesters."
    • "There is also a smaller faction of conservatives that might be willing to give up a first trimester ban in favor of 2nd and 3rd."