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Hi, Canadian here. From what I've been able to gather, American conservatism is more of a tribe than an ideology, that holds many values under a big tent. Some

Hi, Canadian here. From what I've been able to gather, American conservatism is more of a tribe than an ideology, that holds many values under a big tent. Some of these values are at odds with each other. I don't see much conservatism in republicans at all. They are not conserving the environment, they are not fiscally conservative, their politics has been starkly reactionary. At this point, I would say the label has lost all meaning. Luckily, Americans can still vote for the Democratic party, a staunchly conservative party by all accounts.

marmaduke 7y ago
Conservative in the US doesn’t mean tea party trump voters. You got it wrong. Go worry about Canada.
- NotSammyHagar 7y ago
  He got it right in reality. Republicans say they are conservatives, their conference is cpac has conservative in the name, they use that word incessantly. but it just means self-interested power that cloaks itself misleadingly in that conservative is good.
sesteel 7y ago
As an U.S. American; I've always viewed our brand of conservatism as an ideology focused on fighting change (good or bad); thus, conserving our established policies or returning to established policies of the past (abortion rights, gay rights, etc.). Some people are scared of progressive policies or think that have set a precedent that is at odds with their values. They seem to spend a great deal of time worrying about the effects new policies will have on society. I try to have empathy and I wish fewer people were ideologues in the US and just viewed ideas as tools to solve problems. Just like in the tech industry, people get it in their heads that something works at solving a problem so they try to solve every problem with it. The world is gray, not black and white.
- mmsimanga 7y ago
  As an outsider I guess I am sometimes confused at partisanship. I get it though being conservative in the US seems to be a political position whereas where I am from being conservative is aunt Pat telling you real gentlemen wear a suit to work and muttering under their breath how the youth of today have lost the plot. It's more of a character/personality trait as opposed to an ideology. I have always thought we needed both types of people the ones that jump at new things and the ones that kind of say hold a minute before we swap out this full stack can we just define what problem we are solving.
  - sesteel 7y ago
    I mostly agree with you; however, I think it a personality trait that leads to an ideology. Most people in the US are middle of the road. It is somewhat unfortunate that our two party system has increasingly push candidates to either extreme to appeal to their very loud bases. I think in general, conservatives seem to want to see a policy work somewhere else first before adopting it nationally. That is why, imho, states rights are so important to them. However, when they do get power, they try to rush whatever changes they want through. Nevermind the fact that both parties are corrupted by money. So, like many people, their leaders seem to be hypocrites; they use arguments that appeal to conservative ideals, but only as an attempt to suppress the liberal ideas.
    - mmsimanga 7y ago
      You make a good point on the problems associated with a two party system. Most issues in the world are not binary but unfortunately the world seems to simplify things to either you with us or against us. No one is better for it. Seems mainland Europe is slightly different. They seems to have a few large parties and the governments tend to be coalitions. So the big parties win about 30% of the vote. I can't speak for how effective it is but it feels right to me. As humans surely there isn't just two types of us.
mmsimanga 7y ago
Ah thanks :-). Sounds like one of those words that has morphed into a movement of some sort.
humanrebar 7y ago
> American conservatism is more of a tribe than an ideology The American conservative movement is very much ideological, though certainly a minority these days. Influential conservative magazines and columnists pointedly withheld endorsements or actively campaigned against "the tribe" you're describing. For instance, George Will, "Vote against the GOP this November" (2018): https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vote-against-the-gop-this-november/2018/06/22/a6378306-7575-11e8-b4b7-308400242c2e_story.html?utm_term=.c24cbb6faca8 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vote-against-the-gop... > I don't see much conservatism in republicans at all. Conservatives believe in the classically liberal principles of the American founding: the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and the thinkers that informed those things. They are conserving a democratic republic based on the idea of inalienable rights. That is one of the things that is unique about American conservatism compared to European and even Canadian conservatism. There isn't a language, a monarchy, some historical border, some ethnicity, or official state religion to conserve. Conservatives also believe in non-government institutions, principally the family, but also private organizations. Anyway, there's not much action going on in Washington at all these days. That's not to say there's no conservative action in the last couple decades. Appointment of judges cleared through the Federalist Society probably counts. The deconstruction of campaign finance regulations probably counts.

marmaduke 7y ago

Conservative in the US doesn’t mean tea party trump voters. You got it wrong. Go worry about Canada.

NotSammyHagar 7y ago
He got it right in reality. Republicans say they are conservatives, their conference is cpac has conservative in the name, they use that word incessantly. but it just means self-interested power that cloaks itself misleadingly in that conservative is good.

sesteel 7y ago

As an U.S. American; I've always viewed our brand of conservatism as an ideology focused on fighting change (good or bad); thus, conserving our established policies or returning to established policies of the past (abortion rights, gay rights, etc.). Some people are scared of progressive policies or think that have set a precedent that is at odds with their values. They seem to spend a great deal of time worrying about the effects new policies will have on society. I try to have empathy and I wish fewer people were ideologues in the US and just viewed ideas as tools to solve problems. Just like in the tech industry, people get it in their heads that something works at solving a problem so they try to solve every problem with it. The world is gray, not black and white.

mmsimanga 7y ago
As an outsider I guess I am sometimes confused at partisanship. I get it though being conservative in the US seems to be a political position whereas where I am from being conservative is aunt Pat telling you real gentlemen wear a suit to work and muttering under their breath how the youth of today have lost the plot. It's more of a character/personality trait as opposed to an ideology. I have always thought we needed both types of people the ones that jump at new things and the ones that kind of say hold a minute before we swap out this full stack can we just define what problem we are solving.
- sesteel 7y ago
  I mostly agree with you; however, I think it a personality trait that leads to an ideology. Most people in the US are middle of the road. It is somewhat unfortunate that our two party system has increasingly push candidates to either extreme to appeal to their very loud bases. I think in general, conservatives seem to want to see a policy work somewhere else first before adopting it nationally. That is why, imho, states rights are so important to them. However, when they do get power, they try to rush whatever changes they want through. Nevermind the fact that both parties are corrupted by money. So, like many people, their leaders seem to be hypocrites; they use arguments that appeal to conservative ideals, but only as an attempt to suppress the liberal ideas.
  - mmsimanga 7y ago
    You make a good point on the problems associated with a two party system. Most issues in the world are not binary but unfortunately the world seems to simplify things to either you with us or against us. No one is better for it. Seems mainland Europe is slightly different. They seems to have a few large parties and the governments tend to be coalitions. So the big parties win about 30% of the vote. I can't speak for how effective it is but it feels right to me. As humans surely there isn't just two types of us.

mmsimanga 7y ago

Ah thanks :-). Sounds like one of those words that has morphed into a movement of some sort.

humanrebar 7y ago

> American conservatism is more of a tribe than an ideology The American conservative movement is very much ideological, though certainly a minority these days. Influential conservative magazines and columnists pointedly withheld endorsements or actively campaigned against "the tribe" you're describing. For instance, George Will, "Vote against the GOP this November" (2018): https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vote-against-the-gop-this-november/2018/06/22/a6378306-7575-11e8-b4b7-308400242c2e_story.html?utm_term=.c24cbb6faca8 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vote-against-the-gop... > I don't see much conservatism in republicans at all. Conservatives believe in the classically liberal principles of the American founding: the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and the thinkers that informed those things. They are conserving a democratic republic based on the idea of inalienable rights. That is one of the things that is unique about American conservatism compared to European and even Canadian conservatism. There isn't a language, a monarchy, some historical border, some ethnicity, or official state religion to conserve. Conservatives also believe in non-government institutions, principally the family, but also private organizations. Anyway, there's not much action going on in Washington at all these days. That's not to say there's no conservative action in the last couple decades. Appointment of judges cleared through the Federalist Society probably counts. The deconstruction of campaign finance regulations probably counts.