American Conservatism - Actually Conservatism?

[OxymoronP]

What about the Republicans who are not in any sort of elected position?

They elect those dolts. I am registered republican because the Democrates are worse, honestly both parties are a disgrace. We need real and more diverse representation.

 

[cpwill]

I don't know that I would even argue it's about conserving, at least not to the extent that so many neo-cons seem to use it.

neo conservatives are progressive in their origin; which would be why.

 

[AgentM]

A quick read on the wiki with an eye to Burke seems to support the position that it's largely the same.

Property rights
Modified free-market (not laissez-faire)
Stability and continuity over revolutionary change
Patriotism
Social conservatism (presevation of natural culture/heritage)
Fiscal conservatism (prudent spending)

I see nothing in that list that is not typically associated with modern "conservatives".

But not all American Conservatives are socially conservative; a good chunk of them are, but not all are (or even most I would guess).

 

[Cephus]

neo conservatives are progressive in their origin; which would be why.

Yes, they're former fundamentalist Democrats. Now the liberals have no need to complain, it's liberals on both sides.

 

[MKULTRABOY]

Burke would find modern american conservative's insistence on borderless and wide freedoms of speech, even covering what would be seditious speech, appalling.


...says me.

 

[Morality Games]

I'm not sure I would credit Edmund Burke with sole founder status. Burke was a conservative in the European fashion - altar and throne. American Conservatism is about Conserving.... Classic Liberalism.

To a good extent, Burke's views on domestic policies were simulated classical liberalism. He and the Founding Fathers concurred on many points concerning the proper make-up of British-American society. Again, Britain was already more than half a republic, and instating an American monarchy instead of a presidency, or easing into such a monarchy after a few presidential administrations, was not an unorthodox view in the post-Revolutionary War years. Many Founders believed monarchies were more natural than presidencies. About the only republican thing the Founders really, really wanted was a legislature representing their people, which is what Britain already had in Parliament.

The difference was that Burke believed classical liberal policies were only good in an English-American context and would dysfunction if employed in a place like France, because the broader societal network that had come to exist over the centuries in that society could not "compute" them properly, so there would be niches for corruption that would cause the whole enterprise to collapse and for France to be worse off than under even the worst of absolutist kings. The Founders disagreed with him here; classical liberal policies would always meet success everywhere.