It is Time to Drop the Word Conservative

Let me start by saying first-of-all that I am not claiming that we abandon the 'conservative' principles we hold dear. So do not reply telling me that I have given up, threw in the towel, betrayed the movement, etc... I also am not saying that we begin trying our hand at the liberals game and try to 'control the language'. What I am saying though is that we need to stop letting ourselves be branded or that we cease to hold on to a term we have held for long and that we simply begin to call ourselves and the people we oppose by their correct names.

The word "Conservative" refers to someone who wishes to retain, to 'conserve' the current order of the world. In simpler terms, a conservative seeks to ensure that things remain the same. Let me be clear, under this definition, we are no longer 'conservatives'. This is an obvious point as we no longer wish to conserve our current position in the world.

On the off chance you do not believe me, consider:

• We have sought, not the continuation of things as they are, but of things as they were.
• To this end we have sought not our current government, but a smaller one. i.e. different government.
• We have argued for lower spending, not our current budget, but a smaller different one.
• We have argued against the high taxes we have had repeatedly imposed upon us, and argued against this continued practice. i.e. we have argued for an end to the current system.
• We wish our government to be held accountable to the people, and held in check by its laws and restrictions, especially its limits on power. In other words, we want our system to be governed differently from the way it is now.
• We seek an end to government handouts and demand a return to self-reliance.

This list could go on, but the point is obvious. Even arguing that the things that we want were in the past, it cannot be argued that these things persist still. We do not live under a constitutional republic any longer, we wish to impose it and make it permanent. We do not live in a free-market system any longer, but wish to create it so that the forces natural to it can take over. We no longer have individual freedoms that are protected by our government, but we instead have freedoms that are routinely violated by the same government we wish to reform.

Simply put, the very system we are said to want to protect and 'conserve' no longer exists. Today, to be a conservative is to want government intervention, to desire handouts, and to accept taxation as a necessity for the common good. In other words, to be a conservative today, is simply to be a slightly less radical liberal. This is because the beliefs held by the people that call themselves conservatives are no longer in place. The things that are in place are the very government programs that we want to end, the taxes we want removed, the bureaucracies we want dissolved, the regulations we want lifted, the practices we want ended. Nothing in our current government is left to us to conserve. Even our founding document is now more of a decoration than a document to be enforced. It would be simpler to find a genie to grant wishes than to find things we wish to conserve.

In short, we are now the radicals. If you do not believe me then read the tenth amendment to someone who calls themselves a liberal. If you are not hounded for being 'crazy' then I am truly amazed. We are now the crazies. This sounds insane to think, but consider the crazy ideas many people now accept without question. We now live in the world that gives credence to the remark that "the lunatics are running the asylum." When it is the lunatics who run the world, is it not logical to assume that it is the sane who are called crazy? Insane? Radical?

The term conservative no longer applies to us anymore and so it seems we need a new word to identify ourselves with. This term already exists. That term is "Classical Liberal". A word from which Progressives originally snaked the term 'Liberal' in order to change their colors for a time. The simple fact is that we have always been Classical Liberals. We simply have allowed the Progressive movement to re-brand us as conservatives in order to make us sound old and dusty. This no longer has to be.

That term is our term and many already identify with it. As long as we allow ourselves to be called conservatives, the progressive movement will always be able to tell the world how it seeks to change the world. As the very word conservative contains within it the meanings they need to place the blame on our shoulders, our possessing it, even reveling in it will simply be a hindrance.

In order for us to win this battle, we must educate everyone and tell them what it is we mean. The word conservative cannot be tolerated anymore as confusion can only be created by such a word. In preaching a change of government, we must not also incorporate words that confuse our intent. We cannot preach change as the "Conservative Party" or as the "Grand Ole Party". We must leave behind us our tendency to cling to things that possess a certain tenacity for it is this tendency toward the present that people wish to avoid.

This world can still be won with ideas as long as their exists one person's mind which is not yet made up. These minds however do ask for consistency in message, and it is best that we choose even our words carefully so that we do not get confused with the current set of ideals.