Who's Killing American Conservatism?

Conservatism is a simple philosophy that seeks to preserve the good ideas of the past. It's based on the observation that not all new ideas turn out well. Conservatism is therefore cautious about the unintended consequences of changes.

When you understand the basic principles that guide conservative philosophy, it becomes clear that what passes for conservatism in America these days is a gross distortion. So who's to blame for distorting it? Here's my list of suspects.

1. Neocons. Neocons are basically imperialists who love military intervention. While you might make an argument that military adventurism is good for America, it's not a conservative position. Conservatism seeks to maintain stability. Neo-conservatism wants to stir things up.

Example. Even though the neocon-driven invasion of Iraq hasn't produced any good results, the same neocons are urging military action against Iran. Remember how communists used to argue that communism works, but it hasn't been tried properly? That's the same argument neocons make regarding military adventurism. We just need to keep trying it until we get it right.

2. Talk radio. If a conservative wants to preserve the good ideas of the past, he needs a firm grounding in reality. You won't get that from talk radio, because it's an entertainment medium designed to make a profit. Correlation with reality is not on the radar.

Example. Rush Limbaugh frequently tells his listeners, "Let me tell you what's really going on here, folks." The problem is that his version of what's really going on comes from his imagination. It's usually based on what he sees as the secret motives of other people. A thinking conservative doesn't speculate like that. He judges people by their actions, not by what he imagines their secret motivations to be.

3. Christian fundamentalists. There are people in this country who think that conservatism and Christianity are the same thing. They're not. You can be conservative under any religious system or under none at all. Likewise, you can be Christian and progressive. The main problem with mixing up a political philosophy with a set of religious opinions is that you degrade both your religion and your politics. You degrade your religion by diluting morality with political expediency. You degrade your politics by diluting evidence-based reasoning with faith-based conclusions.

Example. Creationism didn't used to be mainstream Republican policy, but these days almost every major Republican leader supports creationist policies. Many of them even support laws or programs that promote Christianity as the national religion, even though the Constitution established a secular government for this nation.

4. The US Chamber of Commerce. A thinking conservative supports the idea of a free market, because the free market has a long history of providing the goods and services that people need, as well as providing opportunities for people to improve their socioeconomic standing. Starting in about 2007, the Republican Party went beyond supporting an environment that's conducive to business and began encouraging a form of corporation worship, a worldview that sees multinational corporations as more important than American citizens. This has led to efforts to free big business not only from government regulation, but also from the restraints of basic human morality. This violates conservative principles, because history tells us that the free market needs some regulation to prevent businesses from abusing people and messing up the environment.

Example. "Corporations are people too, my friend." Mitt Romney.

5. Weak leaders and weak followers. Most of today's self-styled conservative leaders are playing to an audience instead of standing up for genuine conservative principles. They want votes, money, and applause, and they'll say whatever it take to get those things, because these leaders lack character. Many of their followers have become weak too, because they refuse to stand up against the corruption of American conservatism for fear of being labeled a "RINO". The result is that American conservatism has become a self-absorbed movement that strokes its own ego rather than dealing with ideas and policy.

Example. Sarah Palin's popularity was not due to her policy wisdom or even her dedication to American principles. Palin became popular because she could get a crowd feeling good about itself by telling them that they're the real Americans.

A healthy society needs both conservative and progressive elements. The progressive role is to generate new ideas. The conservative role is to filter out the bad ideas and preserve the good ones. American conservatism can't function if it doesn't understand that role or the foundational premises of conservatism. It can't function if it acts like a separate tribe that cheers itself and sneers at everyone else. It can't function if it deals in comforting fantasies rather than hard truth.

We can revive American conservatism, but not as long as the five groups listed above keep redefining the philosophy to suit their own agendas.