When people hear the word conservative, they instantly develop their own world view. Often, those worldviews are wholly different from each other, something that politicians like to take advantage of. Yet, around 2/5 of people in this country refer to themselves as conservative. This is why it is so important for Turning Point USA to create a form of definition of this, thereby having an overarching view of what it means to be conservative.
What Does it Mean to Be Conservative According to Turning Point USA?
Different Americans will be fine conservative in very different ways. At its heart, being conservative usually also means being a Republican. However, if you put side by side people like Donald Trump, Ron Paul, Rick santorum, and Mitt Romney, you will have four incredibly different people. Yes, it seems that there are a number of things that all Americans agree on when it comes to defining conservatism. Those are:
1. A dislike of rapid change. Conservatives believe that prevailing social norms and tradition have wisdom within them and they do not trust any effort to change society based on what some perceive to be more efficient or just.
2. A wish to keep the rules of government and political philosophies written in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence intact.
3. A strong belief that, in order to preserve morality, cultural norms should be based on the rules and regulations articulated in the Bible.
4. A belief that a traditional morality should be preserved at all costs using the power of state and cultural norms as defined in the Bible.
5. A belief that market outcomes are fully legitimate and that free market capitalism is a sustainable economic process.
6. A strong belief that this country is exceptional, and that it should in fact be the leader of the world.
7. A belief that this country understands true democracy and that this brand of democracy should be exported on a global level, through force if necessary.
8. A desire for the government to take on projects that enable the character of the everyday American and showcase national greatness to the world.
9. Taking responsibility for the future by embracing the human scale, family ties, communities, and localism.
10. Believing that America should only intervene in other countries’ private affairs as a form of defence or two enforce treaties and contracts.
11. Wishing things went back to the way they were in the past. At present, this is specifically a pre Obama past.
12. Identifying with the cultural cues that define America. Unfortunately, identifying the specific cultural cues is proving to be even more difficult than defining what being conservative is.
13. A strong dislike for liberalism, identity politics, multiculturalism, welfare, affirmative action, social policies, and the general left.
14. Wishing for the government to leave people alone, seeing this as a natural right. This includes reducing the size of the government and lowering taxes. At the same time, Conservatives principally believe in federalism as a form of government.
