Kirk begins: Perhaps it would be well, most of the time, to use this word “conservative” as an adjective chiefly. You’re welcome to contribute, but keep it constructive. The disastrous Citizens United decision, which struck down campaign finance limitations as a violation of free speech, grew directly from legal campaigns funded by Charles Koch and his acolytes, according to a recent article in The Guardian. It a conservative principle to refrain from overreaching the power of government to step in where the power invested in local legislatures and citizens should suffice. Mike Huckabee, former Republican Presidential Candidate for the 2008 Presidential Election, would be considered to be a social … Consequently, one may be conservative relative to one person on the continuum but progressive relative to another person. December 8, 2020. But conservatives also oppose an excessive regard for written documents, which leads, for example, … The question is about more than just politics. Things are not likely to end well for humanity if that trend persists. Read our Manifesto. Those unlimited campaign contributions are what are funding today’s divisive micro-targeted social media campaigns, the ones that undermine reasoned discourse and focus on inflaming the passions of voters. I am not as keenly concerned with the things most important to others who consider themselves conservative in our time and place, namely libertarians, foreign-policy realists, and free marketers. But this reasoning is about how best to adapt traditional law to present circumstances, making such changes as are needed for the betterment of the state and of the public, while preserving as much as possible the overall frame of the law. It is almost true that a conservative may be defined as a person who thinks himself such. It's not a perfect list, but generalizations of a conservative leaning philosophy: > Actively support a return of prayer in schools. The 2019 article is based on a conversation with George Will, who many see as the de facto leader of American conservatism now that William F. Buckley, Jr. has departed the scene. Unless America learns how to stop the attack on reason, it is doomed to become a failed state. And, many free-market fundamentalists on the libertarian side don’t understand culture and society as well as they might, and have something to learn from people like me. I became conservative when I realized that the era of protest was over. Conservatism is the road ahead because it is an idea of what we can do for ourselves. Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers. The conservative position typically is that government should operate at a subsistence level, bringing in just enough revenue to support essential spending. It is very fashionable in America today to identify oneself as a conservative. Will says populism is the obverse of conservatism. I suppose one way to think about conservatism — sorry, conservatisms — is by asking the question, “What do you want to conserve?” Kirk once said that the traditional family was the institution most important to conserve. It is not possible to draw up a neat catalogue of conservatives’ convictions; nevertheless, I offer you, summarily, ten general principles; it seems safe to say that most conservatives would subscribe to most of these maxims. Conservatives also believe that America, while an imperfect nation, has been a tremendous force for good in the world. Consciousness of the fallibility of man, and an awareness of the value of skepticism, doubt and humility. I have no interest in denouncing them as traitors, turncoats, or heretics. b Conservative : a member or supporter of a conservative political party. George Will spends a lot of time thinking about the formation of the American government. He has written and edited for the New York Post, The Dallas Morning News, National Review, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Washington Times, and the Baton Rouge Advocate. That statement may be provocative, but how else to explain the monolithic obedience of Republican senators to the dictates of Mitch McConnell, himself a frequent beneficiary of Koch largess? I agree with that, and most of my conservatism comes from that conviction. Jake Scott is a Doctoral Researcher at the … That antipathy continues in the ethnonationalism of President Trump and today’s Republican Party. Conservatism is the road ahead because it is an idea of what we can do for ourselves. A desire to preserve the political philosophy and rules of government articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. A belief that America is an exceptional nation, a shining city on a hill, whose rightful role is leader of the free world. (Note: This answer contains oversimplifications and generalizations about people based on their political views. It’s time for more profiles in courage and fewer acts of cowardice. Affinity for, identification with, or embrace of Red America’s various cultural cues. They are the very sort of anti-intellectual thinking that George Will warns us follows naturally in the wake of populist movements. The conviction that government should undertake, on behalf of the American polity, grand projects that advance our “national greatness” and ennoble our characters. Arousing passions is, of course, precisely what micro-targeted social media advertising is all about and what the Founding Fathers feared would doom their efforts to create an enduring government model for the new nation. We blacks won everything we could win through protest — but it was an idea of what others must do for us, of how others must be moral and tolerant. I still believe them to govern my political philosophy. They are firmly against abortion and gay marriage. The Founding Fathers hoped that would be a long enough time for cooler heads to prevail. What I would like to see in the comments is a thoughtful exploration of what you think it means to be a conservative. Similarly, I am in principle willing to accept more involvement of the state for the sake of shoring up the family and the moral order than libertarians are. But of course there is more to the conservative persuasion than this general attitude. But it is more important to explain what conservatism is in general, and then to explain what is wrong with it. The disenchanted conservatives who flooded into the libertarian movement convinced them that if they wanted to have respectability and credibility within the mainstream media and among mainstream Americans, they had to become advocates of saving Social Security and Medicare rather than advocates of repealing these welfare-state programs. Social conservatives believe in Christianity as the basis for all decisions, and the importance of the family. While conservatives acknowledge limits on American power and influence, they believe (unlike many libertarians) that we should oppose tyranny in other lands. There are many things to say about him. If the eight years of George W. Bush taught us anything, it ought to have been to listen to dissenters, and to approach the big questions of politics and statecraft with a certain intellectual humility. The platform is co-owned by political commentator Dan Bongino, who has said he's grown tired of "YouTube's attitude toward conservative voices." Know that I don’t hold any ill will towards anyone about their views. The creators also frequently advocate for their followers to vote for Trump in the upcoming election. Definition of conservative (Entry 2 of 2) 1 a : an adherent or advocate of political conservatism. He has also written four books, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, Crunchy Cons, How Dante Can Save Your Life, and The Benedict Option. Conservatives reject the supposed universal reason of judges, which often amounts to little more than their succumbing to passing fashion. In 1964, 70% of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do the right thing. A belief that America should export its brand of democracy through force of arms. Contact us here. For example, Dave may be a progressive relative to Tony but conservative relative to Ellen. The broadest use of “conservative” means promoting (wanting to conserve) traditional institutions. Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems. CleanTechnica is the #1 cleantech-focused news & analysis website in the US & the world, focusing primarily on electric cars, solar energy, wind energy, & energy storage. 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