What Does ‘Conservatism’ Mean to You?

As simply as I can explain it, "conservatism" is all about attempting to make everyone’s life better.

Conservatism is about believing in people.

It has nothing to do with the identity politics that the left wages against all of us.

It has nothing to do with race, gender or who you want to sleep with.

As I have been saying for years, we believe that everybody’s lives can be much better if government obstacles are moved out of your way.

Again notice I did not talk about race, gender or who you want to sleep with.

That is exactly opposite of what the left believes and the media portrays.

I also believe that we must separate conservatism when it comes to fiscal and social issues.

Both are important but are not dependent on one another. There is great diversity in the conservative movement.

Fiscal conservatives have different priorities than social conservatives.

Libertarians tend to be attracted to “non-government interference” aspects of conservatism, but not necessarily “social conservatism.”

In reality, there is more diversity of thought in conservatism than there is in liberalism. This is both a blessing and a curse. Diversity of thought and robust debate creates an environment where the best ideas rise to the top and diverse interests can be addressed through debate and compromise.

The curse of conservatism is that the level of individualism is a challenge to political unity.

Conservatives are far less likely to fall into lock step with a political party to win elections particularly at the national level. This is clear in the current presidential campaign, where liberals seem very able and willing to fall in line behind a single candidate on the Democrat side, while 17 candidates that represent a wide spectrum of social and fiscal conservatism along with libertarians and political moderates who are locked in a battle of ideas to define the future direction of the Republican party.

So, what does conservatism mean to you?

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Please feel free to start a discussion and write your thoughts in the comment section.