What is a Conservative?
Since the 1980’s government has seen a massive resurgence of politicians who identify themselves as Conservatives. Reagan seemed to make the term so magical that in some areas of the country it is presently impossible to get elected unless you identify yourself as a conservative. Let’s see if we can define the term Conservative.
Conservative- of or relating to a philosophy of Conservatism which is further defined as follows: tending or disposing to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions. This seems a reasonable definition as Conservatives are generally resistant to changes in recognized norms. Much of the present Conservative movement is built around this basic principle. Conservatives usually want to maintain present conditions or else revert to past conditions. In either case it is a philosophy desiring very slow and gradual change and highly resistant to new ideas in most cases.
Let’s take a look at how this movement has operated throughout US history. We could go further back and follow it through world history but for the sake of brevity I will try to hold this discussion to US history. I’ll start with the birth of this country as a sovereign nation, the American Revolution.
Conservatives in the colonies were overwhelmingly against the revolution. As usual in such dynamics the Conservative movement wanted to maintain the status quo. At that time in our history wealth was the common denominator of the ruling class. People without wealth were not allowed to vote and therefore were usually kept from holding office in any form. The Conservative movement looked in horror upon the idea of universal suffrage which it equated with rule by the mob. The leaders of Conservatism in Great Britain most strongly vociferated this belief in speeches wherein they exclaimed that rule by the wealthy was in fact the natural order of things. Aristocrats would always rule over everyone else and it was the duty of the poor to obey their betters. It was unnatural for them to rebel against the rightful king and would lead to anarchy. Conservatives within the colonies echoed these positions and clung tightly to the monarchy, refusing to entertain the ridiculous idea that common people might have the intelligence to rule themselves.
Thankfully, Conservatives in the colonies lost this battle both figuratively and militarily and a nation was born on the principle that all men are created equal. It is worth remembering this was not a conservative principle but rather a radical idea pushed and forcibly upheld by the most progressive men in the colonies, a group we today tend to identify as our founding fathers.
In 1860, the United States found itself literally torn in two over the question of the spread of African slavery into the new territories. Conservative Democrats, determined to protect the source of their wealth, insisted on the right to carry their most valuable assets (slaves) into the new territories. The Conservative party in the north had sided with Conservative Democrats for much of the preceding 40 years as arguments over slavery rocked the halls of Congress over and over again. When the nation elected a Republican president pledged to oppose the further spread of slavery, southern states immediately called for secession conventions to consider whether they should withdraw from the Union.
Without getting bogged down in too many details it was the Conservative movement within the Democratic Party that walked out of their nominating convention and split the party. It was the Conservative members of the US Supreme court who decided that it was impossible for a black man to become a US citizen. It was the Conservative movement in US religious institutions that split these institutions by their insistence that the black man was not only not endowed with the requisite intelligence to become a citizen, he was intended to be a slave as a part of God’s plan.
Later, it was the Conservative movement within Congress that battled against the passage of the 13th and 14th amendments which gave blacks their freedom and their citizenship. It was the Conservative movement in the South that later put in force literacy tests and other qualification tests in order to remove the black man’s right to vote. It was the Conservative movement in the south that put in place Jim Crow laws throughout the south that removed many of the basic rights that black men had gained through these same amendments with legislation carefully crafted to keep them separate in every way possible.
It was the Conservative members of Congress from both parties who fought hard against the Civil Rights Act in the sixties that removed these same restrictions. It was the Conservative movements within the state governments that railed against segregation and refused to follow federal laws removing these restrictions.
In the early part of this century it was the Conservative movement within both parties that rallied against the passage of the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote. It was the Conservative movement within existing religious denominations that pushed against this same principle throughout the US pointing out their belief that the Bible placed woman in a subservient position. It was this same Conservative movement that argued that women weren’t intellectually capable of making such important decisions as they were designed by God without this requisite intelligence. It is the Ultra Conservative movement even today that suggests that suffrage rights to women is at the source of much of what is wrong in this country today.
Also in the early part of this century it was the Conservative movement within this country that lobbied strongly for the continuation of child labor in factories and against the rights of organization of labor unions; labor unions that were later instrumental in passing legislation against the harsh realities of child labor over the loud protestations of this same Conservative movement. It was the Conservative movement within this country that organized against 40 hour work weeks, overtime benefits and minimum wage standards claiming they would collapse the economy and bring about economic devastation if put in place.
It was the Conservative movement that fought tooth and nail against the Social Security Act which provided old age pension, survivors benefits for victims of work related accidents, aid for orphans, widows, and disabled people as well as rudimentary unemployment insurance. Conservatives warned that these ideas were the first steps in a long slide towards communism and concentration camps.
It was the Conservative movement that opposed Medicare with the help of their paid shill Ronald Reagan who advised that it was be the end of freedom on this country as we know it. Medicare that allows Senior citizens to obtain the healthcare they need in their declining years was equated again with the first step in a slide towards dictators and the absolute ruination of our healthcare system.
It was the Conservative movement that fought against the creation of air and clean water standards that guarantee corporate entities can’t poison our water systems and pollute the environment without paying for cleanups. It is the Conservative movement which still today fights against any efforts to enforce these regulations and regularly lobbies and control elections with massive political contributions aimed at making sure they can continue to pollute without financial responsibility for the problems they cause.
I am often baffled when I hear people proudly proclaim they are Conservative. Obviously, being a Conservative means different things to different people and I know a lot of Conservatives who simply want more gradual change and slower, less jarring upsets to our system. Nevertheless, the history of Conservatism in this country is not one that I want to be identified with. I really can’t understand why anyone else would.