Facebook Philosophizing

I like Facebook, and I particularly like the "Status Update" section--I get to know, within about 2 minutes each time I sign in, how my friends and family are and what they are doing (that is, if they post something). Some updates are straightforward: "I'm sleepy", while a few are more cerebral; one friend likes to quote bits of poetry. Lots have to do with what is happening at the moment: "I'm studying at__________. Need company," and many have to do with events of the day. I like this section of Facebook because, well....I'm nosy. But most of all, because I care.
I try to make my update informative, humorous, and not repetative, and I try to do one every day. I am sometimes....OK, frequently......political, especially now, but I try not to be "in your face" about it--after all, I do have friends who (horrors!) don't always agree 100% with me, and I would like to remain friends with them.
So yesterday, when someone posted a Status Update that said, "I'm proud to be a conservative," it made me stop and think. I was wondering if she had been prompted to state that because of something I said? Was it an angry statement? A defining statement? Why did she say it, and most importantly, what did it mean?
I would have to say that this statement, "I'm proud to be a conservative," was the best Status Update I've ever read. Because it made me think. For a really long time--most of the day, in fact. First was the gut reaction, "Was it something I said? Do I need to apologize for pissing her off?" Then was the fun part, thinking about what it meant, and what she meant when she said it. My friend is more politically to the right than I am, but I think we agree on some social issues (for example, she knows I'm gay, and is still my friend). What does the word "conservative" mean to her? Am I conservative too? What does this word mean to me? I tried to think of ways I'm conservative: I believe in conserving our natural resources. I try to be conservative when it comes to using my car, and recently, have been thinking a lot about alternative energy, in an effort to conserve oil and other fuel sources that have become so politically "fueled". I'm often conservative with my emotions, and that's not always good, so maybe I'm not proud of that. I think this financial crisis could have been avoided if the people in charge of the financial institutions had been more conservative with other peoples' money--does that make me a conservative? But then, I must admit, I got off on a tangent--why is it that John McCain, Phil Gramm, and most Republicans going back at least as far as Ronald Reagan, believe on one hand in deregulation (i.e., we have no business telling business what to do), and on the other hand, believe they have every right to tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her own body? Huh? You cannot, logically, have it both ways. So then I thought, probably I'm not a conservative. But, when in doubt, consult a dictionary--maybe that would shed some light on what my friend was thinking when she wrote that.
From New American Webster: Conservative: "1) Opposed to change. 2) Moderate, not extreme. 3) Protecting from loss, waste, or injury."
1) Well, goodness knows I'm not opposed to change. I've spent the last 3 years doing a lot of changing. 2) I feel like sometimes I'm moderate; extremes of any kind make me squirm. 3) I am conservative when it comes to loss or injury--who isn't?
In the end, I decided I am sort of a conservative, but not really--especially not when you apply that very first definition (and I'm trying to remember my years of education--isn't the first definition supposed to be the main one?). I silently thanked my friend for providing material for a blog posting, and then I did what I should have done all along--I commented on her Status Update. I said I was intrigued by the statement, and asked if could she tell me more. Turns out I didn't piss her off--it was a slam at someone else. And she reminded me that she is, after all, a Republican. And what choice did I have? I responded that I like a lot of Republicans, including her.
Thanks to my friends for giving me things to ponder every day. I cherish that, and I cherish you.