Conversation

"Why do they call themselves conservatives if they don't conserve anything? Isn't this just more hypocrisy?"

As a person who grew up in the southern part of the American Midwest, I need to explain some things to you about conservatism, and specifically about the uniquely American brand of conservatism.

Let's start here: conservatism - by its own definition - is "a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing the importance of established hierarchies and institutions (such as religion, the family, and class structure), and preferring gradual development to abrupt change. The SOLE value of conservatism is this:

➡️ Respect for, and obedience to, one's perception of traditionally established hierarchy.

That hierarchy dictates that those on top (in-groups) are rightfully idolized and receive privileges, credibility and resources. While at the same time those on the bottom (out-groups) are rightfully dehumanized/devalued, bound by restrictions, and denied credibility and resources. This is the sole, immutable ideology of conservatism and it defines every system of belief that flows from it.

To a conservative, the second-greatest injustice imaginable is for those who they perceive to be on the top of the social hierarchy to be bound by legal or social restrictions, their credibility subjected to scrutiny, or denied resources. That treatment is reserved for those on the bottom.

And the greatest injustice imaginable is like it - for those who they perceive to be on the bottom of the social hierarchy to be granted access to the same rights, privileges, credibility, and resources already enjoyed by those on the top. That access is reserved for the in-group only.

That is what conservatism demands, by definition. Protection of the in-group and persecution of the out-group is its one and only purpose and reason for existing. That is what conservatives are conserving.

And that is also why "hypocrisy" is so prevalent within conservative circles. It is never the act itself which they find morally abhorrent but rather the social and political standing of the person who committed it. Rape, pedophilia, child abuse, and sex trafficking are not abhorrent acts in and of themselves - only if they are committed by someone of insufficient social standing within the hierarchy. See: Trump, Epstein, and the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, Trump, a person credibly accused of rape and pedophilia, can stand up in front of a microphone and accuse Mexicans of being rapists and LGBT people of being pedophiles, to a chorus of cheers.

Those of us who believe that all people are people see hypocrisy. Conservatives, who see some people as more/less people than others see only hierarchy. Hypocrisy implies a sense of parity. The accusation suggests that a person is violating some universal common standard that should be applied equally.

Hierarchy directly states that there is no such thing as equality, and that parity is not just unnatural but evil.

You will never convince an American conservative that their views on foreigners, women, trans people, or gay folks, are inherently wrong or hypocritical. Only that they are applying the wrong hierarchy. "Trans rights are human rights" does not work to convince a conservative, because it asks them to apply a universal standard of equality and parity that they have already implicitly rejected. "Only God may judge a person's soul" at least has a chance of reaching them.

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