Comment by dfxm12
19 hours ago
You mean reactionism. A conservative wants to keep the status quo. A reactionary wants to regress to a previous status quo (i.e. perhaps from 150 years ago).
19 hours ago
You mean reactionism. A conservative wants to keep the status quo. A reactionary wants to regress to a previous status quo (i.e. perhaps from 150 years ago).
Conservation literally means to preserve. Teddy Roosevelt was a conservative who established the national park system to preserve our country's natural wonder. You might also say that conservatives don't believe in spending lots of money and are against high deficits and fiscal craziness. None of those really describe the conservative movement in America today.
That's not what it means in practice. The element being conserved is monarchy.
In one of Marx's most memorable letters:
"Tories in England long imagined that they were enthusiastic about monarchy, the church, and the beauties of the old English Constitution, until the day of danger wrung from them the confession that they are enthusiastic only about ground rent."
That feels like it could have been written today, doesn't it? When push comes to shove, things like Christianity, constitutional order or "fiscal restraint" seem to always take second seat to the yield from owning things, especially real estate.
That has never been an American conservative ideal for obvious reasons.
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The conservative movement today is heavily influenced by religious positions.