Definition for conservative

Before we can have a true “conservative” revival in America, we must first properly define what it is to be a conservative. The nice thing about being an opinion writer is that I get to write my opinion on a subject without concern for the opinions of others.

I realize that academics who write dictionary definitions and accounts of history have their opinions about words and events. Sadly, most of them are left-wing in their world views, which usually drives their left-wing definitions and accounts of history.

Don’t confuse common definitions with proper definitions. Clearly, our Founders didn’t mean food stamps or free cell phones for Obama supporters when they wrote the “general welfare” clause in the constitution. But that’s how left-wing academics define that clause today.

As a lifelong “conservative” myself, let me tell you what it means to me to be conservative. Although the term is used to identify the political views of an individual, this is only the natural political manifestation of being a conservative. The foundations for conservatism are based in personal life convictions, not politics.

• An individual who seeks to uphold and abide by an American set of principles and values
• A sound and uncompromising moral compass
• Ethical behaviors that exhibit a personal conviction to moral foundations
• A fiscally responsible reverence for free-market economics and limited government
• A political view that aligns with all moral, ethical and fiscally responsible convictions

In short, a conservative is someone who lives by a code of fundamental decency and honor, someone who never chooses the politically expedient over basic right and wrong. Their political positions are driven by their personal convictions and they are not at all prone to compromise as a result.

Today, most Republicans are not conservatives by this definition and that’s why the Republican Party remains in a death spiral, despite the fact that the Democratic Party (Democratic Socialists) is highly unpopular as well.