What’s the Real Nature of Conservative Politics?

[Draggingtree]

RedState: What’s the Real Nature of Conservative Politics?

By: Morton C. Blackwell (Diary) | December 24th, 2013 at 12:59 PM

 

Political terms mean different things in different countries, and they mean different things in the same countries at different times.

 

In the United States and across the world in the 19th Century, the word “liberal” described someone primarily concerned about liberty.

 

Over the years, the word “liberal,” deliberately adopted by the left in the United States, has come to mean here someone committed to, among other priorities, greater concentration of power in government, more government spending, and active opposition to traditional values.

 

In modern American politics, liberal means left. Leftists have so sullied the word “liberal” that they often prefer now to call themselves “progressive.”

In the United States today, someone who hangs on his wall an honored photo of Ronald Reagan can be called a conservative. Most people now understand immediately. That person is probably committed to limited government, free enterprise, strong national defense, and traditional values. For political purposes, these four principles are generally accepted in America as pillars of American conservatism.