(July 17, 2015 at 7:50 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Conservatism, held at arms length and assessed only for what it is by it;ls own claim, implies that one should resist change. That's really all there is to it. They seek to -conserve- traditional institutions and conceptions.
The rest is just branding. A conservative can easily be pro-war, pro big government, con civil liberty, pro increased domain, con secularism. All they need to do is point to a tradition of any of these things, and there's no shortage on any count, and they;ve satisfied the basic meaning of the term "conservative". Our parties, btw, have essentially "switched places"...more than once. Used to be that the democrats were the corporate whoring busybodies. The republican party was once the party of the "little man".......Just saying.....
It's so pronounced, that my bigoted grandfather, a lifelong republican -and- deep, deeeeeeep racist....voted for a democrat for the first time in his life.....in Barack Obama......mull that shit over.
As long as you point out the traditional orientation in society you can justify conservatism - If your society favors big government, then being a conservative entails supporting big government.
Honestly, given that America has only known classical liberalism as its primary ideological component (and hence the emphasis on individual rights seen with disdain by Europeans) I think American conservatism must consist in supporting the stricter, most loyal and literal interpretation of the constitution - So basically classical liberalism, small governments, individual rights, the 2nd amendment, etc.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
