Why Progressives are the Real Conservatives

                The word ‘Conservative’ has become a reliable part of our political dialog.  Everywhere you turn there are appeals to ‘conservative values’ and ‘conservative principles’ without any thought about whether or not the people making those claims and the positions they have staked out deserve to be legitimized by being called ‘conservative.’  The implication is that the conservative movement in America is somehow trying to save what has made this country what it is by defending their brand of ‘conservatism’ from the change driven and thoughtless erosion of values by people they call ‘liberals.’  There is even a 24/7 cable news network committed to promoting a conservative agenda.  But to say one is ‘conservative’ in America demands some analysis of exactly what American values are being ‘conserved,’ and not just a knee-jerk assumption that one side of the political spectrum is inherently ‘conservative.’

                Today’s incarnation of conservatives claim a lineage going back to Goldwater and Reagan, which would be problematic enough, but their policies and actions contradict even these claims.  The ideas of limited government and individual liberty have given way to a massive surveillance state intruding into people’s lives in the most private and intimate matters.  The expansion of the vote and participation in democracy has been replaced with an open and cynical attempt to limit not just the number but the kinds of people who get to vote.  Responsible fiscal management has been replaced by tax plans drawn up on napkins that are draining the public coffers while creating the greatest unequal distribution of wealth in our history.  The commitment to infrastructure has been replaced by a protection of individual wealth that have left us with roads, bridges, and water systems that even third world counties would find unsatisfactory.  Finally, the decorum of traditional conservatism has given way to a bombastic and juvenile rhetoric of personal attacks and demagoguery.  While it is true that racism, misogyny, and xenophobia have always been part of our political discourse, when did promoting and preserving them become ‘conservative?’

                The so-called conservative agenda today amounts to little more than old, white, male privilege.  It is not inclusive.  It is not American, and it has no viable future.  It is led by men (and occasionally women) who doubt science, refuse to believe anything except their own phony talking points, and are immune to evidence from the outside world.  They have made it ‘conservative’ to not follow the constitution, shut-down the government and use congressional oversight to prosecute partisan politics.  None of these are foundational values in this country; in fact, they are exactly the opposite.  The values that have made America what it is are inclusion, economic fairness and equal protection under the law.  We have survived and triumphed by expanding the franchise and allowing more people to vote, by investing in public institutions and infrastructure and by making sure that the religious convictions of some do not deny others a chance to run their own lives as they see fit.

                There has always been a strain of American culture and politics that has been exclusive and exploitive.  The issue is not that this iteration is somehow more loathsome or un-American.  The issue is that ‘conserving’ those attributes is not what makes us great.  They are the attributes that we have had to consistently struggle against – and apparently still do – to be a great nation.  Celebrating them as our heritage or our core values debases what it means to be American.  It is worth fighting over this distinction.  If we can see what the current crop of conservatives is promoting as anti-American, we can stop lauding their patriotism and appreciation of the past.  Instead, we can see them as the small and pathetic people they are.  We can see this generation as perhaps the last gasp of what we were ever so fortunate not to become.

                Ironically, the only people in the political spectrum that are fighting for these values are called progressive.  They are often young, people of color and female.  They are the true ‘conservatives’ of the American political process.  They are the ones expanding on the foundation that makes us ‘American,’ and they are the ones preserving what this country promised it would be. Progressives are pushing the agenda that defines ‘American values,’ unless you think those values are about bigotry and exclusion.    The next time you hear someone talk about conservatism, think of them; they are the ones fighting to save what is best about us.

  And when you hear some politician touting their ‘conservatism’ you should hear white, male privilege writ large.