Found this quote on Conservatism. Thoughts?

Question

"What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?"

Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860.

Answer 1

This was back when the republican party was considered the liberal party, lol.

If I was to update it "What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to everything that we have historically learned to be effective in creating a lasting country that provides maximum individual freedom, and against ideas proposed as new, but with a clear history of failure?"

Answer 2

This pasted link has always been my personal favorite explanation of conservatism.

Hillsdale College puts out a monthly called Imprimis. This was in one of the issues:

Conservatism is not an ideology or a program—its programmatic content varies with place and time—but a set of values and an attitude toward changes in the established social order. Its opposite is not any particular dogmatic secular religion—such as communism or socialism—but dogmatic secular religion itself.

Peter Viereck once defined conservatism as "the political secularization of the doctrine of original sin." Eric Voegelin defined its opposite as the political secularization of the heresy of gnosticism.

Edmund Burke distinguished between "abstraction," or a priori reasoning divorced from or contrary to history and experience, and "principles," or sound general ideas derived from observation of human nature throughout time and space. Thus, despite the diversity inherent in conservatism, some principles may be delineated as having been held in common

Click the link for the entirety of the article. It’s a great read! Print it!

Answer 3

very accurate.

Life is about change. Obviously things have been changing since the begining of time.

Conservatives seem to not want change. There is a balance of course but the media in particular seems intent of driving a wedge between democrats and republicans almost like a team or a wrestling league.

There are some conservative ideas that are good and there are some liberal.

Answer 4

Shouldn't we always be trying to keep the best of the old ways while adapting to the best of the new? That's why I think this endless discussion of conservatism vs. liberalism is so idiotic.

Answer 5

If Abraham Lincoln were alive today he'd be 198 years old.

And he'd probably be constantly boring everyone with the same old story about how he kicked the butt of that pansy actor that tried to shoot him.

Answer 6

In his own day, Lincoln was decried as both a radical and a "stick in the mud." Please refrain from projecting modern political beliefs on historical characters. There is enough wealth in what he actually said and did to argue about.

Answer 7

Of course, Lincoln was a Liberal. Were he alive today the Republicans would assassinate his character, at the very least, themselves.

Answer 8

Times change, eh?

Now the Liberals & Democrats only want the "old & tired" Conquest of Communism.
An Old Form of Government that Always fails.
Democrats Never give up on the old Failed Socialism, Communism, and Fascism.

Answer 9

a conservative is a person or people who think life is a pinata that if they break they can grab values like patriotism, religion, morals, freedom, capitalism among others and own them exclusively.

Answer 10

people in Texas are all conservatives especially bush and his buddies