Conservative

by modestinus

Conor Friedesdorf’s blog post at The Atlantic, “What Americans Mean When They Say They’re Conservative,” is getting some play in various blogging sectors, inspiring suggested additions (and subtractions) from his 21-point list. (It’s worth mentioning that no man could ascribe to all 21 without first suffering from schizophrenia and/or running for public office.) I’ve seen people suggest various “liberal” lists as well, each accompanied with contradictory elements which point to the unsurprising conclusion that the epithet “liberal” is no clearer than “conservative.” This won’t stop people from calling themselves (or others) “liberals” and “conservatives,” of course. Within common reference groups, they’re still useful designations. But as people have been saying for at least a century, they offer very little insight into the nature of someone’s (or some group’s) political beliefs.

The matter becomes even more complex and convoluted when one moves beyond the realm of pure politics and begins looking into matters of taste or matters of religion. I have met more than a few so-called “liberal Catholics” whose political beliefs and voting patterns are best described as “conservative.” Similarly, I have known more than a few “snobs” with respect to literature and art who are diehard liberals in the political realm. “Conservative taste” doesn’t necessarily mean “conservative politics,” even if it maybe “ought to” in a normalized, balanced world. If one wants to make the waters even murkier, consider the possibility that people don’t necessarily vote in line with their publicly stated beliefs. For instance, I have two friends who are lawyers who both profess to be liberals but, in light of their increased earning potential, are hesitant to support anything but a conservative economic platform. This may be why one finds so many so-called “libertarians” in law schools and the legal profession: they’re liberals who don’t want to give up their dollars even though, amusing enough, many of them likely went to law school on Uncle Sam’s dime. (Yes, they have to pay back the loans, but the loans themselves are offered at below-market rates with no demand for collateral; the subsidization is there even if the beneficiaries don’t want to admit it.)

For many years now I have thrown my hat in with the “conservatives” without thinking too deeply about what that actually means. In years past I used to call myself a “classical liberal” before shifting over to “quasi-libertarian.” Others have accused me of being everything from a die-hard libertarian to a neoconservative, neither of which I accept. But it probably doesn’t matter anyhow. I’ve been off the dating market for over eight years (sorry ladies) and so the chances of me ever having to select a “Political Affiliation” eHarmony or Match.com is pretty slim. I can probably get by with vagaries for the rest of my life without receiving too much flak. Still, I would be lying if I didn’t say that I sometimes wished I had a nifty little word to drop into conversations which reveals, in an extremely modest way, my political hand without inviting any need to justify it.