A Conservative Lib-Brull

I consider myself to be pretty conservative.  That’s a fraught thing to say in today’s rancid political environment, but it makes me feel better to admit it.  It’s also not easy to say for somebody who has never voted for a Republican in his life, opposed the war in Vietnam and the endless wars since, backed the impeachment of Richard Nixon, supports abortion, equal pay and same-sex marriage, worries how the current occupant of the White House will do harm to me, and remembers that his parents and grandparents idolized Franklin Delano Roosevelt for saving the country.

I suppose those things make me a lib-brull to those addicted to Fox News, but they’re wrong.  My type of conservatism, like wisdom, seems to have come with age, outside the left-right political divide.  Here’s how I define it:  If change is needed, it should be gradual; don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.  If it works, don’t fix or discard it. If it’s broken, repair but don’t destroy it.  Compromise is always better than discord.  

So how does this conservatism play out now that I am in my eighth decade of life?  Consider these rules I follow:

(1)  Don’t buy a new car every few years; keep it for at least ten years, change the oil frequently and enjoy it as it ages gracefully with me.

(2)  Wear clothes until my spouse claims they look shabby, then donate them to charity.

(3)  Grow, harvest and can my own vegetables; it puts me in synch with nature, and all it takes in some seeds, some water, some sunshine and some hands in the dirt.

(4)  Tolerate today’s music, movies, books and TV shows, no matter how loud or graphic; don’t bend anybody's ear to whine about how much better they were when I was young  (even though they may have been).

(5)  Don't snark back at stupid Facebook comments.  This one is really difficult for me.   

(6)  Keep calm and don’t curse when learning a new app or other technological advance with instructions written in an unknown language.

(7)  Watch my bank and investment accounts with a hawk’s eye, and worry just like my parents did that a buck you spend today is a buck you won’t have tomorrow.  The nest egg needs to last at least a long as I do. 

(8)  Follow the advice Polonius gave to his son Laertes in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”  -- “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.  For loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.”

And, most of all, don’t force my religious or political beliefs on others and don’t consider people with a different point of view to be enemies.  That’s what dictators do.