re: #31 HappyWarrior

You guys are right what we’re seeing isn’t conservatism in the true sense of the word. It definitely is much more reactionary than it is conservative but I’m also serious as a heart attack when I suggest that the conservative political ideology has brought more harm than help to this country and world. But as already said what we see today presented as conservatism is definitely more reactionary than conservative to be fair to actual conservatives.

Political conservatism was first clearly stated as a political program in the immediate aftermath of the French revolution. It had its uses then, mainly as a check on the excesses of nuts like the Jacobins.

Even if we set aside the total corruption of US conservatism by bigots, there is no apparent need for such a brake to slow down progress in the US in the 20th and 21st centuries.