I think Asteroid Man is correct when he says that people who like to hold onto the good things that came before will tend to be "conservative" because I think that's the definition of conservatism. Conservatives, in the most basic sense of the word, fight for everything good that they have now and had in the past. Believing in low taxes and small government is an ethical standpoint, however, and has nothign to do with the term "conservative" all by itself.

That's why a lot of terms that people use bug me. Everyone's a conservative on one thing or another. For instance, even those who value being "free" or "open" must value that in a way where they want to conserve it or else "valuing" those principles means nothing. Liberal is a much more ethically meaningful term for people to assume by comparison (linguistically and historically); it means they value liberty.

Thus, that's why it's stupid to say that most people here are in line with what would be pop-culture's definition of political conservatism. Everyone's a conservative about something and in this case, most people who first came to this site care about preserving good movies. That doesn't mean we all match or identify ourselves as conservatives in the popular sense of modern American politics. In fact, as I said earlier in this thread, this site seems to attract 50/50 and that any prominence of "conservative" viewpoints in political discussions is due to "conservatives" wanting to discuss the details of issues more.

If there's one thing about the internet I don't like, it's the extreme niche nature of it all. On the one hand, I like this site because it gives me a place to vent my frustrations about the original trilogy's fate (while still affording great aesthetic debates about the subject). However, at the same time, I realize that in the real world that's not an interest that people would really tolerate. They'd look at me and be like, "Uhh, you need to take a seat and calm down. It's just a movie." Likewise, in the real world, when socialists are faced with facts and ethical logic, they tend to run away and be silent. However, the internet allows them to have weird little worlds where they can hang out and be safe with their crazy socialist ideas and never face challenges. On an even-handed site like this, the general fact that "conservatives" take issues more seriously and are willing to argue them more will influence socialists to hide their beliefs by comparison. That's why it seems overrepresented to Janskeet or Asteroid Man.

Anyways, another area I'd agree with Asteroid man is on the topic of being open to ideas. Let truth go where it can. (Just be skeptical and and make tough arguments all along the way.)