Conservatism/US

Overview

Conservatism in the United States takes on particular causes and priorities which are not necessarily aligned with conservatism in other parts of the world.

The Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think-tank, states a belief "in individual liberty, free enterprise, limited government, a strong national defense, and traditional American values. We want an America that is safe and secure; where choices (in education, health care and retirement) abound; where taxes are fair, flat, and comprehensible; where everybody has the opportunity to go as far as their talents will take them; where government concentrates on its core functions, recognizes its limits and shows favor to none. ... we believe the values and ideas that motivated our Founding Fathers are worth conserving." This would seem to be a reasonable definition of the best attributes of American conservatism.

A cornerstone of American Conservative philosophy is personal responsibility – the idea that each individual is solely responsible for his/her own well-being; government exists solely to ensure that the rules are enforced, which includes protection from hostile external forces.

American Conservatives seem to be generally against "big government": "The government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have." -- attributed to Gerald Ford [1]

During the presidential administration of George W. Bush, the use of the term neoconservative has re-emerged to describe an offshoot of conservatism whose adherents are outwardly conservative (especially on wedge issues) but in practice somewhat (sometimes completely) at odds with some of conservatism's basic tenets.

Politics

The majority of conservatives in the United States are aligned with the Republican Party, although a significant minority adhere more to the positions of the Libertarian Party.

Related Articles

• United States Republican Party
• Neoconservatism
• Many US conservatives, especially those tending to the extreme (e.g. DiPippo and Horowitz), seem to have a grudge against The New York Times going back to at least mid-2006.

Conservative and Fundamentalist Groups

• Conservative
  • Conservapedia: "pro-American, pro-Christian" alternative to Wikipedia
  • Free Republic
  • The Heritage Foundation
  • John Locke Foundation (North Carolina)
    • Interestingly, the writings of John Locke [W] himself "had an enormous influence on the development of liberalism", notably the idea of "religious toleration", according to Wikipedia
  • Patriot Post "The Conservative Journal of Record"
  • American Conservative: skeptical Conservatism
  • Redstate: "conservative news and community"
• Conservative Christian
  • Bob Jones University (Greenville, SC)
  • Council of Conservative Citizens (MO) (Wikipedia)
  • Liberty University - e.g. Dress Code for Women
  • American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property
  • Patriarchy.org (VA): "addressing the issues and legalism of patriarchy with the liberating truth of Jesus Christ"; apparently started in reaction against an excessively conservative/legalistic "patriarchy movement"
• Parody Sites
  • Landover Baptist Church "Where the Worthwhile Worship"
  • Betty Bowers "America's Best Christian"

Well-Known Conservative Proponents

pundits

• Ann Coulter
• Barry Goldwater (1909-1998): (former?) conservative icon; would be considered a moderate today
• Bill O'Reilly, Fox News commentator
• David Horowitz: neocon writer, activist and commentator
• Dinesh D'Souza: argues "that conservatives here and traditional moderate Muslims are up against the same far-left enemy."
• George F. Will [W]
• Jerry Pournelle "slightly to the right of Genghis Khan"... but doesn't seem to be rabid, unlike many others
• Michelle Malkin [W]
• Rush Limbaugh
• Russell Kirk [W]: "the father of modern conservatism"
• William F. Buckley, Jr. [W] "the godfather of modern American conservatism"

financiers

• Richard Mellon Scaife

Links

Reference

• Wikipedia: Conservatism in North America