Politics, philosophy: is Trump a conservative? Part 1

Self-tutoring about US politics: the tutor contemplates Trump’s political ideology.

When Trump is a player on the political stage, he sure gets headlines. (Of course, he’s not the only politician who’s made headlines lately….)

The traditional definition of conservatism, simply imagined, seems to be the philosophy that things should be conserved – resources, traditions, etc. Therefore, back in the 70s, a conservative likely supported singing the National Anthem every morning in homeroom, for two reasons:

1. It was traditional. (Where and when I went to elementary school, it was.)

2. It conserved allegiance to one’s country, which was necessary to preserve the way of life its citizens knew.

What they call small-c conservatives (not necessarily followers of the Conservative Party) view change with skepticism. They accept change is inevitable in some ways – for instance, conservatives have adopted cars and computers. However, they don’t believe in change without a compelling reason. Moreover, conservatives don’t believe in drastic change. If a change must happen, a conservative will want it to be gradual.

Looking at some of the controversial ideas Trump has supposedly mentioned, concerning trade and foreign relations, a conservative would likely perceive them as drastic changes. Therefore, said conservative would be highly unlikely to support them.

Source:

kirkcenter.org