Monday, September 28, 2020

What Conservatives Believe

The well-known website, Wikipedia, defines conservatism as:

 . . . a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include tradition, hierarchy, and authority, as established in respective cultures, as well as property rights. Conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as organized religion, parliamentary government, and property rights with the aim of emphasizing continuity.[1]

Conservatives, like liberals, are not monolithic, meaning their beliefs are varied and diverse. What one conservative holds most dear may not match what another conservative proclaims as fundamental. However, most conservatives have similar guiding principles that are held in varying degrees as foundational. A partial list of those principles is provided below.

I have prepared this list, culled from a dozen or so conservative websites, in response to plaintive questions many liberal friends have posed to me, such as “Why do conservatives vote against their vested interests” (such as economic, social, etc.) and “What is it that conservatives really believe?” Hopefully, in listing those guiding principles I will have given liberals something to think about, meaning voting behavior involves complex reasoning, not simplistic knee-jerk reactions. For many conservatives, voting for or against a specific ballot measure may be influenced by foundational principles that may not be apparent to anyone unfamiliar with the range of conservative beliefs.

In other words, I urge liberals to see conservatives as complex people, the greater majority of whom are not knuckle-dragging deplorables. If liberals are going to continue to oppose conservatives in the voting booth, at the very least they should try to recognize conservatives’ real-world values rather than the dubious strawmen often created to demonize them.

Note: the following list is not intended to be all-inclusive.

Guiding Conservative Principles

Individual liberty/freedom.

Property rights are paramount; meaning no person is free if they are restricted from owning and possessing property.

Limited government, low taxes, and few business regulations.

Free markets based on capitalism/private enterprise and little government interference.

Personal responsibility trumps government assistance.

Empowerment of the individual to solve problems; rugged individualism; self-help rather than government welfare, meaning government is not the solution to domestic social problems.

Public and private social services are an intentionally corrupt scam to keep minority groups on what is called the Democrat Plantation.

Government should provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals and capitalize on opportunities.

Many if not most government programs/agencies should be privatized to create jobs, generate opportunities, and thus reduce poverty.

“Judicial deference” is highly valued while “judicial activism” is not; meaning the Originalist Theory of constitutional interpretation seeks to determine the intended meaning of the text and does not grant judges free rein to create new rights and powers.

States’ rights are paramount; state control should trump federal control.

Civil institutions (family, voluntary associations, organized religions, etc.) are society’s lifeblood and should be protected from government interference.

The right to life is sacred, meaning abortion and euthanasia are murder while executing convicted criminals is both moral and just.

High rates of religious participation are greatly preferred.

Education is the bedrock of freedom and the gateway to opportunity.

Socialism/communism is evil.

Most Democrats want the U.S. to become much more socialist until government controls nearly everything in our lives.

Right to work/anti-union; unions are socialist creations.

Corporations and corporate executives are more highly valued than unions or blue-collar employees.

National security is the federal government’s first obligation and is necessary to democracy.

Preferential treatment of races by any means is wrong; civil rights are individual rights and do not guarantee equality of outcomes.

Healthcare provided by the government (socialized medicine) means that everyone will get the same low-quality care.

Immigration laws must be enforced: illegal immigrants should be deported.

Gun control laws violate the 2nd Amendment, which is highly prized as inviolate.

A giant conspiracy of local, state, and federal elections officials across the country ignores or denies the existence of massive, wide-scale voter fraud.

At least 10,000 climate scientists around the world are engaged in a massive criminal conspiracy to perform demonstrably bad science in order to receive more government grants to do more bad science; although no scientists have yet been able to expose the way that conspiracy has taken control of all climate research in every industrialized country, it’s only a matter of time.



[1] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism

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