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https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism finds "the tendency to prefer an existing or tra
by electrotux 5y ago
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism finds "the tendency to prefer an existing or traditional situation to change".
That said:
1. Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. I use and recognise "progressivism" and "conservatism" in non-political uses.
2. I fear if we're debating defintions, we've fallen victim to Layne's law.
- bee_rider 5y ago1) Progressivism is a directly political word, if you want to use some nonstandard definition that's up to you but I think it is unreasonable to jump into a conversation with the assumption that somebody else is using your nonstandard definition. Conservativism is an often political word, with some non-political uses. When put in contrast with progressivism I think it is reasonable to assume that the political definition is being used. 2) I fear that if you make a habit of telling people that they have, by using the conventional definitions of words, misread things, you will naturally get into debates about definitions. I'm happy to not debate definitions and just use the standard ones.
- electrotux 5y agoRe 2, good point.