In my book, a conservative is someone who speaks up for the wisdom of the traditions of the past and casts skepticism on the perceived progress of new social and political innovations. Being a conservative in the US is a weird thing, as we’re a fundamentally liberal polity without a deep historical political tradition (we can look back to European politics, but we never had an aristocracy, monarchy, etc.).
Those who label themselves or are labelled “conservative” in the mainstream political world–Republicans, basically, whether establishment or Trumpian–are really no such thing. The easiest way to assess this is to look at their main arguments. They are rarely appeals to tradition or a defense of such. They don’t stand athwart so-called progress, they just propose a different version of it: unfettered capitalism, poisonous individualism, the liberation of corporations. Most of the time, their social conservatism is hollow rhetoric, or grounded on a “biblical” view that prevents them from having to make an argument based on reason or the common good.
The values of the true conservative are:
- Family against nationalism
- Community against individualism
- Faith against materialism
- Ownership against wage slavery
- Personal charity against bureaucracy
- The sanctity of life against the instrumentalism of the human person
The conservative doesn’t want to unleash Wal-Mart upon the world. He wants to unleash a million local craftsmen to provide for the needs of their neighbors. The conservative doesn’t want to foster a world full of atomic individuals, free from all constraints. She wants to strengthen the bonds of family and community. The conservative doesn’t want to empower his nation to be a global economic or military powerhouse. He wants to empower a local government, small enough to understand its citizens’ real needs, to provide for what the people cannot provide themselves. The conservative doesn’t measure goodness in material terms like prosperity or life expectancy or luxury. She measures a life by quality, commitment, honor, and love.
None of that sounds like a typical Republican today. It certainly doesn’t sound like Trump.