Quote:
Originally Posted by Original Position
Fundamentally, my conservatism is based on the belief that some weighted average of global total and average utility has likely been higher over the last twenty years than any previous twenty-year span. I also have a lower than average credence towards most ideologies, including my own. I also think that while long-run history probably bends towards justice, it is not a smooth curve. Thus, I am cautious about radical changes to the way things are currently being done.
I don't think this really qualifies me to being a conservative in the American sense of the word. The conservative ideology that has animated the GOP and movement conservativism over the last few decades is imo more typically a radical rightwing one, with many rightwing conservatives allying themselves to it because of their fear of leftwing radicals, and I'm more sympathetic towards leftwing than rightwing ideologues. However, in a practical political sense, I do have some conservative heuristics guiding my thinking about politics and so am typically cautious of supporting radical policy changes.
Is this really to be called "conservatism"? I agree with all three of your premises (hopefully I'm not patting my back on the second), and, I suppose, your conclusion too, but wouldn't call myself "a conservative". From what you wrote this seems more like a sort of "don't rock the boat too much" pragmatism, which could be consistent with more liberal or more conservative views.
Perhaps this is better rooted in some specifics. Probably the most disruptive major policy proposal from the 2020 candidates is medicare for all. I can see a pragmatic argument against this proposal that says that despite similar policies seeming effective in other countries, this is too disruptive too fast, we don't know what exactly will happen, and better to do a smaller step like create a public option, or shore up obamacare, for the next decade. But outside of the tendency to some pragmatic hesitation on radical changes, this isn't really getting to core principles on a conservative vs liberal spectrum of some sort. Sure, I grant you aren't claiming a position on typical american political spectrum with this post, but I'm a bit lost on what meaningfully you are claiming.