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26 Oct 2008 08:13 pm

Republicanism ≠ Conservatism

William Randolph prepares to jump ship:

When I read something like this, it makes me realize: there are only so many times I can tell people that I'm a conservative, but not that kind of conservative before it becomes clear that I'm using the wrong word. Like all words, the meaning of “conservative” emerges from a complex communal process. It's not mine to control. So do I spend the next few years putting the word in dissociative quotation marks? Or do I just let it go free, knowing that if the word does not come back, then we were never meant to be together in the first place?

It might be fun to try to keep the word for contrarian purposes, or just out of sheer stubbornness, but: what's the point?

John Schwenkler urges Randolph to not take the plunge. I face the dilemma every time I go to a college campus and speak about conservatism. When you use the c-word among the next generation, they no longer associate it with small government, individual freedom, humble faith, balanced budgets, respect for tradition or a strong but prudent foreign policy. They think of religious fanaticism, big spending, massive debt, and social intolerance. When I give my stump speech in defense of the conservatism I lay out in my book, there is considerable interest, but it sounds nothing like the current GOP. I come close to washing my hands of the word as Randolph is.

But remember: we had this word first. We can and must reclaim it.

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