The defining trait of conservatism: selfishness

It's the defining trait of America, not conservatism, ever since Columbus stepped off the boat and wrote in his journal how the native people were so kind he could literally seize everything they had.
Why do you think we have two capitalist ruling parties if not for selfish people?
- I think it's a human problem. It's in our genes. Some of us are supremely selfish and some of those people have no regard for the health and wellbeing of anyone who gets in their way. Just look at our history.
  
  I think it’s a human problem.
  Absolutely. I completely agree, and anyone who disagrees hasn't read a world history book.

Having actually worked in academia, though, this actually does have a kind of fucked up capitalist answer (and it really isn't merit) which is most true in public universities more so than Harvard: international students pay more. A lot more, in fact... so much so that my alma mater of UCLA has marketing campaigns in places like China.
As others point out, though, this isn't zero-sum. More money theoretically means more subsidized US students (and more seats in general). At UCLA, this is especially true since any Californian making less than a certain amount can pretty much get a free ride (and even if not that, highly discounted tuition). I myself being a beneficiary of that, too, btw.
Now, private schools on the other hand, they probably pocket that cash. USC being my most local example, but I bet Harvard does the pay to win shit, too. I think it's correct to take issue with how they operate, but MAGA is misleading people as they always do in any form of class warfare.
- surely, to a capitalist, having people come to the country for 3-4 years, pay loadsamoney and then leave again is the dream?
  
  I mean, it's actually healthier to an economy to keep the well trained immigrants but you know how racist af people are. These aren't just professionals, they're pre-wealthy professionals and often have seed money to lead start-ups, lol
  But racism and xenophobia are self destructive.
  
  LOADSAMONEY

It’s the conservative ideology: they see everything as a zero-sum game. If anyone gets something, whether it’s food stamps, medical care, or a place in a college admission, in their minds, that means it must’ve cost somebody else that thing.
That’s just not how the world works
- Conservatives are perfectly capable of understanding positive-sum games when they expect the privileged in-group to be the benefactor. What is a labor contract, if not a positive-sum game where the corporation sucks up all the positive gain?
  Game theory as a cental tenet of the human condition is a liberal concept, which conservatives will happily discard if it doesn't suit them. Conservatives may cloak their disapproval in the guise of liberal concerns so that they're in a stronger debate position in liberal-dominated social circles, but what they're really upset by is the negation of the conservative world order - a strict hierarchy with narcissistic men at the top of clearly delineated nations, struggling for dominance through pettiness and violence.
  They will accept any negative sum game, they will ruin their own livelihoods and their own lives, if only it helps sad little kings of sad little hills.
- Well they definitely weren't taking his spot at Harvard, that's clear

ask them if foreigners buying American products is denying those products to americans
- Don't give them another idiotic justification for the tariff wars.

If a foreigner blocks an American from using a drinking fountain when they're thirsty, the foreigner should be immediately executed and the fountain should be marked as whites only... oops I mean Americans only.
/s

Hilarious, considering that Harvard didn't even admit Americans for the first 140 years it existed.

Its also as it happens the defining trait of a cluster b disorder.
- I search things so others can be lazy.
  Cluster B things:
  Cluster B disorders are marked by inappropriate, volatile emotionality and often unpredictable behavior. The disorders in Cluster B are antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder.
  A and C are also things.
  Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/cluster-b
  
  Narcissism is dead center of cluster b They are always selfish and always play the victim. They only show kindness for recognition and attention. They lack empathy. Its the defining hallmark of maga. The term DARVO exists because of them. Narcs in particular are almost universally against any form of mental health treatment. They fear exposure but more than that they fear their victims will discover what they are. The source of their problems. No narc will seek out mental health treatment.
  A list of narcissistic traits
  A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (making themselves appear impressive)
  Need for admiration
  Fantasies about power, success, beauty or an idealized vision of love
  Sense of entitlement
  Belief of being special, unique or high-status
  Lack of empathy for others
  Tendency to exploit others
  Arrogant behavior
  Does this remind you of a certain group in the US?
  That 1 to 6 percent is wrong. What is said is 1 in 6 or 16% of the US population. That is also hard to prove due to narcs fear mental health treatment. The actual reported amount is .5% of the population. The statistics for that are interesting though.
  2–6% of those seeking help from mental health clinics
  6% of forensic analysts
  20% of people in the military
  17% of first-year medical students
  Note that the groups in the list above are mostly in a place where a mental health evaluation is pretty much required. The most discovered being in the military where its certain you will get a mental health screening to get a security clearance. That number strongly supports the 1 in 6 statistic with the real number probably being 1 in 5.
  Just imagine the world we could have if these people were identified and ignored when it comes to the common concerns we all share. Of course you can bet they would violently oppose this.
  I pulled those stats from this site. It matches what I've read before. Unless you have been raised by a narc or somehow stayed in a relationship with them its hard to understand how bent they are.
  https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/npd-statistics/
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARVO
  
  Doing god's work.

Also a defining trait of conservativism: turning basically every word into a slur if they try hard enough. “Foreigner.” i can hear the intonation from here
- Foreigner
- farnur
  
  Where I’m at it’s more like “fore-uh-nurrr”

Thing is, this isn't a "gotcha" to them. Their default assumption is "American = more qualified than anyone else" because they're goddamn ignorant racists.
No one who is not American will ever be qualified in their eyes.
- And by American they mean whatever the fuck they want it to mean
  
  White. They want it to mean white.
  
  American nativism and the evolving definition of "white" in America.
- God knows if they needed a medical procedure and the most qualified doctor was in France or China or anywhere, they would demand that they should be treated.
- I mean to be fair, don't Universities usually prioritise foreign students because they pay through the nose?
  
  Foreign students pay out of state tuition, out of state fees, they have to have student insurance.
  They have to provide proof of financial ability for the sum of THEIR ENTIRE PROGRAM be it 2 or 4 or 6 years etc. (As in, you don't need to show bank statements showing that you have enough money for the semester, or the year, no, the ENTIRE program)
  They can't apply for financial aide.
  They CAN sign up for a payment plan but the end sum is the same.
  Most aren't allowed to work because the program must require work such as labs etc. un order to get permission, and then off campus work is strictly illegal.
  And THEN all of that, every step of the process is dependent on office yahoos who may or may not be diligent enough to get your papers processed in time for deadlines.
- I don't think that's the assumption. This sounds like someone planted in their head that there's a shortage of everything and Americans can't get things because foreigners do. The thing about studying abroad is, that Americans do it in other countries too. It's an international exchange. If Harvard stopped taking foreign students, they would indeed study in other countries and less Americans could study in those countries as a result, keeping the total number the same.
  
  I grew up in red state poverty, moved to the west coast, and people up here genuinely do not understand what it's like to live somewhere that sees travel as a bougie thing. I talk about how my parents couldn't afford to send me with my class on the senior trip to europe, the first question that gets asked is why I couldn't get a job and save up, not understanding I was childcare and housekeeping for my family while the adults worked. It's not just coming up with the travel costs, it's also coming up with the money to hire out replacements for the services I provided for free.
  I'm privileged I could test high enough to get into a school that had a senior trip to europe, the public school barely got normal field trips. It's not hard to understand why the person in OP would assume exchange students have access to a higher quality of life than them, they can clearly already afford to travel.

Just an asshole asking asshole questions

lmao at the idea of any foreign national coming to the US for a medical procedure they could have performed for free at home.
And this dolt is all “yeah, fuck those guys!”

they forget often that women, people of color, etc at one point were “dei” to someone, too. their family, on coming here, was “dei” to someone else already here.
the nation they want is one where genocide is ok, women are nonpersons, young women are brides, and people of color are slaves to be used for profit.

In my many years on this fucking planet, my conclusion is that Conservatives, in many countries, are either selfish (this includes racism I think), gullible or rich. Just takes one, but a mix is not rare at all.
I also thing those traits come or are caused by a lack of introspection, self-awareness or empathy. Not sure what is it exactly, but you can smell a conservative from across the street...
- "Rich" is just "selfish" with luck added to it.
  To clarify...my concept of "rich" is somebody who has a lot of money, and the majority of it isn't from a cash salary. Except for the CEOs with 7-digit (or more) cash salaries, not even trying to hide it by a modest salary and a bunch of stock and non-cash perks. Fuck those guys too.
  
  You're right, being rich basically means that you are selfish and made it.

I hope he gets what he wished for

I mean, it's more nationalism. Not all conservatisms have been nationalist, and not all nationalism is conservative.
- The Nationalism usually ends when they want cheap labor. Then it's okay for foreigners to come in, unless they advance their status through hard work economically and socially
  
  In that case they wouldn't be complaining, most of the international students are in grad school aka some of the cheapest labor available lol.
  
  That's actually pretty unusual in the big picture. I'm guessing you're North American, maybe European? In east Asia, no such thing ever happened, and even in the West, historically (pre-WWII) immigration and free markets were championed by the liberal parties. Ditto from what I know of conservatism in other regions.
- All nationalism is conservative by definition. Nationalism is based on order and cultural/national idealized traits which are the hallmarks of conservatism.
  
  Nationalism and communism have had pretty heavy overlap over the years, even if it didn't start that way. If you accept communism as being possibly conservative, sure, I guess you could argue that.