re: #38 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

There is Conservatism as a political philosophy and there is the modern movement that call itself Conservative. They have little to do with each other.

I am a Conservative at heart: I value “conservative” values like strong families, individual initiative, self-reliance, a free market, etc.

But I am at total odds at how modern “conservatives” approach these values: families need strong communities and schools to flourish, not tax-cut wastelands.

I guess I’ll have to agree to disagree. Conservatism has always supported ideas such as your station of birth determines your life. It supported the Crown in the American Revolution. It supported slavery and the ownership of people over human rights (and fought a war to defend that).

Conservatives supported banking trusts and railroad monopolies. It opposed worker rights. It opposed women’s suffrage. It opposed the Civil Rights movement. It opposed legal safe abortion and contraception (and still does). It opposed marriage equality.

Conservatism has never represented the things you argue for. It has supported acquiring and maintaining power. That’s it. The Klan is conservative (and Christian). The John Birch Society was conservative. Suppressing free speech in various anti-war positions is conservative.

Your argument for a so-called classical conservatism supporting free markets and limited government is properly called liberalism.