Is the Word "Conservative" Going the Way of the Word "Liberal?"

In 1964, it was considered a virtue to be a liberal. FDR's legacy was strong. Liberals brought us victory in World War II, social security, voting rights for African-Americans, a tough stance against Communism, and Camelot. On the big issues, the liberal agenda was dominant.

But the divisive Vietnam War, the race struggles of the '60's, women's rights, and finally, the presidency of Jimmy Carter brought an end to the time when being considered a "liberal" was a badge of honor.

Liberals became associated with being soft on crime and softer on defense. Liberals burned bras and loved abortion, they wanted to save the spotted owl at the cost of real jobs, they were welfare queens who took every penny they could from the government while having more and more kids, and most of all, liberals became associated with higher taxes - so that welfare queens could have more kids and get more money from hard working, middle-income Americans.

Today, candidates run from the term "liberal." Liberals want to be known as liberals as much as they want to be referred to as pornographers, which conservatives would say is how liberals prefer to be known.

Today's liberals have found peace with the term "progressive." There are no liberals anymore. There are only progressives.

Conservatives used to be on the fringe, but Ronald Reagan changed all that. He was sunny, optimistic, morning in America after Jimmy Carter's malaise. He brought Democrats to the Republican Party - "Reagan Democrats," the people who voted against their own interests to support a political party that did not want them to have health insurance, good wages, or equal education. The country that voted for Reagan overwhelmingly never sided him on the issues; they sided with Reagan because of his charm.

Reagan and the conservative agenda were considered winners. Conservatives could crow that the Cold War is over, tax rates are at historical lows, welfare queens have traded in their crowns for a paycheck, and Republicans have been in the Oval Office for 20 of the last 28 years.

But today's conservatives, armed with victories, had to find a new agenda. Without Reagan's affable personality, they had to try to settle on winning issues. Conservatives instead settled on an agenda that represents an incredible misreading of where the country stands on the issues. Conservatives went from talking about low taxes, fiscal responsibility, and a strong defense to irresponsible spending, irresponsible wars, ignoring global warming, creationism, big oil, neglecting the basic services of government and, finally, conservatives are now the group that promotes torture.

In the Republican primaries, Mitt Romney determined that he needed to sell his soul to appeal to the conservative - the Rush Limbaugh - wing of his party. It turned out, he was many years behind the times because the talk show hosts do not represent the real Republicans out there, any more than Al Sharpton represented my parents and their view of liberalism.

Real conservatives - real conservatives want to keep taxes low, government responsible, and maintain a strong defense. And there's no reason for conservatives to abhor the environment and distrust science. Those views are products of this very political moment, and many conservatives know it. But those conservatives cannot be heard, because they do not have the power in the Republican Party. Ann Coulter speaks for conservatives.

You can't be a proud conservative anymore, because being a conservative does not mean what it meant 20 years ago, when Reagan's second term ended. George W. Bush destroyed what Reagan built. If W is a conservative, then the word "conservative" is a going to be a four-letter word for a long time, and to confirm it, we just not George Carlin to put in his "Seven Dirty Words" stand-up routine.

John McCain cannot run as far to the right as conservatives want him to run, because if he runs that far right, he will fall off what the right-wing believes to be a flat earth.

Soon, conservatives may not want to be known as conservatives at all. Perhaps they'll be non-progressives. I don't know. I'm not a conservative, so I can't coin the term that best describes their views.

But conservatives are about to enter the long, dark political wilderness. If Senator Obama becomes President Obama, as I expect, the political fights of the last 20 years will recede. There will still be fights, to be sure, but they won't have the same venom they have had for the last couple of decades. Progressivism will rise. The Republican Party will have a fringe on the right, but it will gradually move back toward the center, where it was 30 years ago.

Eventually, conservatism, if it wants to return, will have to enter a political rehabilitation program and emerge with a new identity. It won't look to Ronald Reagan for answers, for the aforementioned reason that much of the country did not agree with Reagan on the issues, but they did agree with his charm, which the far-right (Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter) has none of right now.

If they are smart, conservatives will instead look to Teddy Roosevelt. Pro-business, pro-defense, pro-environment.

But that rehabilitation is years from now. Today's conservatives are yesterday's liberals. And today, there is no such thing as a liberal.

Comments

[Stirner]

No terms can express the chaotic ideology created by the Neocons. Our nation is not becoming more conservative or liberal, but rather more confused. Their envisioned "New World Order" might well be simply more disorder. History, as Toynbee said, is just "one damned thing after another".

[gaila]

You are right, carmenjonze, except on one point that I bring up because I think it's such a great example of how what's "liberal" and what's "conservative" turns over from one era to another. I'm no apologist for prohibition, but modern views of it as a conservative value don't fully reflect the history of the movement. During the mid-nineteenth century, many abolotionists, early advocates of women's suffrage, AND prohibitionists were under one political and social umbrella, which of course was not considered conservative at the time. These prohibition advocates considered alcohol evil not because they thought some guys grabbing a beer after work on Friday would bring down the country, but because many, many drinkers consumed far more than that. Alcohol abuse was rampant and men could and often did spend most of what they earned on booze, while their families went hungry. And because at the time married women were not allowed to own property or dictate where money they earned went, men sometimes spent money that their wives earned at the saloon as well. That's why early feminists opposed drinking. With today's trend of frequent heavy drinking, I sometimes wonder if we'll come full circle and the few remaining sober people will get so fed up with it that we'll have another prohibition movement!

[Cathexis]

Agreed: "Conservative" is now a disaparaging term.

The big difference ...

"Liberal" got tarnished due to an intense, prolonged smear campaign by the Right, lasting about 30 - 40 years.

"Conservative," however, got tarnished due to a prolonged period of ascendancy of the Right, lasting about 6 years (going on 8).

In both cases, it was the Right who were responsible for making the label a term of derision.

[carmenjonze]

Let's hope so. There is NOTHING good about conservatism.

Conservatism is smallpox blankets, segregation, immigration quotas, the kkk, the cofcc, the silver shirts, "traditionalism" (which really has nothing to do with tradition), bent up coat hangers, prohibition (synonymous with "conservatism"), unchecked greed in the form of deregulation, child molestation, death penalties, oh, the list goes on and on.

[LeftRight]

You're wrong, Matt. They are all conservatives, and the definition of conservatism is EXACTLY what they've made it. During the last 28 years, when raygun, daddy, junior, newtie, and all the rest have said that they are conservative, and then acted like they did, NOT ONE conservative stood up and challenged them. Therefore, there are plenty of conservatives out there. The entire republican party, for one!

[situationcritical]

Progressives have gone the way of Ralph Nader.

Liberal is the new Black.

[ProudLiberalDan]

I'm a "liberal" and proud of it.

It's time for liberals to use the word as a badge of honor. Liberalism founded this country and made it great.

Hiding behind the word "progressive" because pollsters and media consultants says the word "liberal" is bad branding has not helped the left in this country or the Democratic Party.

The media and the general public use the word liberal. Trying to get them to use the word progressive against their natural inclination to use the word liberal isn't working.

Word switching has been tried. A much better approach and it is one that will have to be done anyway is for Democrats to rally around the word liberal, but remind people what liberalism is. If one believes in freedom of religion, speech, and though, he is a liberal. If one believe that the separation of church and state benefits them both, he is a liberal. If one believes in empowering citizens over institutions, that person is a liberal. If one believes is equality, diversity and variety, that person is a liberal. If one believes in civil liberties, due process, inalienable rights from the Great Creator, and equality of everyone before the law, one is a liberal. Conservatives fought all these things throughout history.

Remember, in the 1960's, liberals were arguing for civil rights while conservatives were arguing for "states rights."

We've let conservatives define the word "liberal" too long. Running away from the word hasn't worked. Let's take the word back and then shout it to the heavens, then let us stand up and be counted.

[Ides]

There's nothing conservative about conservativism. Liberalism, though, that's always been Liberal.


Conservatives don't even like conservativism.


Progressive = Liberal = Socialist = Green. You make up whatever name sounds better in the public sphere.


Anarchist = Libertarian = Conservative. The name Libertarian was made up in Victorian-era France when the word "Anarchist" was banned from public discussion. You, sir, are an anarchist.


Neoconservative = Fascist. Can you imagine how the public discourse would flex if George W. Bush just came out and told you he was a fascist? Liberals have no problem calling people fascists but they take a lot of heat for using "watch words," but that's what the neocons are.


We're all having the same discussions, we're just changing the words around.


This progress is nothing new. Your ideology, no matter who you are, is an old ideology and part of an ever ongoing back-and-forth in public discourse. We'll hate the ideas just as much or love the ideas just as much, we'll just look at them differently because the name changes.


Look how quickly Bush seized power under an expressly fascist ideology by using the exact same arguments Mussolini and Hitler used. No wonder Europe hates us.

[Pdubya]

taft? goldwater? hello?

...and yes, reagan, in principle was a conservative. but the alzeimer ridden puppet never followed through with sound money or a reduction in government spending. in fact, he rolled out the red carpet for neocons.

and i agree with the other poster. neoconservatism and neoliberal are the same animal, decided upon on the Hill. It is an elite plutocracy all the while they shovel the red and blue pills to us to keep us divided. they are cfr globalists. we have no national, constitutional statesmen anymore...either party....save kucinich or paul (in fact they are respectful friends).

people really don't get it. "change", "experience" blah blah blah....its all a ruse. look at their records, ALL of them save the two mentioned are voting to end the U.S. period.

[Ides]

By the way, neoliberalism = neoconservatism. They're the exact same ideology. The only time the name changes is depending on the speaker's personal ideology.


The first neoconservative was Richard Nixon. I'm not sure about Gerald Ford's ideology, but Ronald Reagan was just another neoconservative no matter which way you slice it. Modern conservatism is "the Reagan Revolution," that is to say, it's plainly and simply fascist.

[blfaul]

Oh, you mean kind of like sending conservatism to the same place they sent Ted Haggard to make him "straight"? My guess is that conservatism would quit the program early, go out and score some Meth.

[WilliamEGraham]

You are basically right. I call myself a Libertarian, and not a conservative. And, I call the Liberals, "Robinhooders".....They seem intent on taking my hard earned money away from me and giving it to the, "poor", which is a group they always identify themselves with, no matter how much money they make. I worked and slaved for 45 years, and saved for my retirement, and now these robinhooders want to steal my money and buy the gresshoppers their health care with it. I am paying for my own health care. Why shouldn't they do the same? No, a better tag for them is, "Socialists". That's what they have always been.

[djthedj]

Don't call the fire dept. if your house is on fire because I don't want you stealing my tax dollars to use on saving your house. Fight the fire yourself. You'd better stop using my roads too, you worthless thief of tax money. Make your own rooads and stop whining for a handout you lazy bum. Get it? It's called sarcasm, I figured I'd better explain since studies show that stupid people generally don't understand sarcasm. BTW, I'm a conservative but that doesn't mean I don't think that the government should provide for the common good.

[situationcritical]

If you're scrimping and just getting by on 45 years of saving your money, believe me, you don't have what it would take to get a lazy liberal like me out of bed to try to take it from you.

[Ides]

Have you ever actually talked to a Liberal or is this what you think a Liberal would tell you if you ever met one?

[Liberal2]

I certainly hope so. No conservative has ever serve in goverment honorably and honestly. No conservative policy has ever improved every American's life, on the wealthy. Conservatism is a curse.

The conservative south began the Civil War. A conservative president ran us into the Great Depression. Conservatives wanted a non-aggression pact with Germany. A conservative president has alienated the entire world from us, added 50% to the nation debt, burned our military out, made it a personal goal to destroy the US Constitution, and failed to capture the man responsible for 9/11.

Conservatism may sound good, but fails every time in reality. No conservative country is wealthy, no conservative country remains conservative without a secret police to put down dissension.

[ndolomar]

as a fiscal conservative, i don't think the term is obsolete; however, i do think -- like the swastika (apologies if that comparison seems a bit harsh, but it's all i could think of) -- its meaning has been maligned by those who hijacked it solely for the purpose of attaining power. if we look at spending for the betterment of society, strong education goals, environmentally sound legislation -- that seems more conservative in the true sense, in that it's an effort to conserve (or preserve) life and propel humankind's abilities. it's just a shame that as powerful as words can be, they become a little meaningless when they're abused in the name of attaining power.

[Ouroboros]

We should call out "Liberalism" and "Conservatism" for what they really are nowadays: "Progressivism" and "Confederacism" respectively.

[WilliamEGraham]

Progressivism sounds so nice, but it is really Socialism. They want the government to take all your money and buy your food, clothing, housing and health care with it. And, since the government will foot the bill, they will make the choices for you too. And I don't know what Confederacism means. - I call myself an independent. I want to keep my own money, and make my own decisions as to how to spend it. Is that what the "confederates" wanted?

[Ides]

Yeah, that's pretty much what the confederates wanted. Although, in this case, they were slaves. Same argument, different property rights.

[situationcritical]

Same small minds though.

[BufoAmericanus]

LOL
said the living Urban Liberal, who has spent his time in the wilderness... Enjoy yours.

[DrPaulProteus]

Don't stop there. The way it has utterly failed, "Conservative" ought to be going the way of the word "Communist" and other failed ideologies that ended up in the dustbin of history.

[desmirl]

Conservatives, through their AM radio personalities, did it to the word, 'Liberal'. The good thing? Conservatives have now done it to the word, 'Conservative'.