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Comment by gnulinux | Hacker News Reader

These kind of comments are the strangest imho. Do we really need an official declaration to deduce someone who says something as clear as "[I don't have] faith in government that you have currently."? Even if they then claim to be something else -- or even against conservatism -- they still are using the exact same rhetoric GP points out that American conservatives use to unjustly cast doubt on government. It's not helpful to seek out explicit information like this. "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck."

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This is exactly how I end up being labeled a conservative, besides the fact that I like to shoot guns.

I don't have faith in government. Government is merely a necessary part of the equation. In the eyes of some, this makes me a conservative. Conserving what? I think taxes are necessary, that social programs can do good (including forms of welfare), that no one should be discriminated against, and that the God of the Bible does not exist. Somehow that's not enough because I don't subscribe to the theology of government.

Seriously, I don't know why you think lacking faith in government is a good metric for guessing whether someone is a conservative, as if it even matters for such a comment. Do you assume someone is Black because they say they like basketball?

> Seriously, I don't know why you think lacking faith in government is a good metric for guessing whether someone is a conservative, as if it even matters for such a comment. Do you assume someone is Black because they say they like basketball?

It's a dogwhistle.

I think it’s because you pick government. I don’t have faith in any large organization public or private not being corrupted. So if you merely don’t have faith in government, it implies you do have faith in non-government entities.

Sorry, I just don't see how that follows. You have no clue what I think about public or private institutions based on one view about the government.

It’s implied by the focus on government, specifically.

This is a terrible analogy and it's clear you didn't read my comment. First, I didn't say you're conservative, I said you used the exact same rhetoric conservatives use, which is a factually correct statement. Second, liking basketball and relating that to an ethnic group would not be observing that someone uses the same kind of rhetoric as an ideological group. You can be non-conservative but still use conservative rhetoric. You can be non-conservative, have conservative opinions but use non-conservative rhetoric, e.g. I am pro-guns but it is for entirely different reasons than conservatives. You can be otherwise non-conservative, but be pro-guns for the same reason conservatives are. In that case, it's fair for people to point out that you're using conservative rhetoric.

Same

Yes. An official declaration from that person’s mouth is required because there’s a very good chance you have no idea what’s in their heart, nor how they view themselves.

Jimmy Dore is leans left but criticizes them when he sees fit. Tucker Carlson leans right but criticizes them when he sees fit. Both get completely mischaracterized by ignoramuses on both sides.

It is much better IMHO simply to comment on something someone has said directly, without trying to apply labels you imagine to be true.

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