The market is the greatest producer of wealth in human history—don’t shackle it. Conservatism promotes activist government that acts in the interests of the aristocracy. See more. Although it is no ideology, conservatism may be apprehended reasonably well by attention to what leading writers and politicians, generally called conservative, have said and done. It is a question that could be answered a thousand different ways. In the U.S., the term often incorrectly describes members of the religious right because they share ideologies on social issues. In recent years, the Republican party has all but discarded this concern. This has been true for thousands of years. Taxpayer dollars should not be used for the government to provide abortions. Politically, cultural conservatism is often confused with social conservatism. Just what is conservatism?Many people are groping for answers, especially as conservatives seem to retreat into factions—Tea Partiers, traditionalists, libertarians, … “Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.” . What is conservatism? . Homosexuality violates the ancient tradition of marriage and its divine and/or philosophic definition. . Christian conservatives tend to like being described as cultural conservatives because it implies that America is a Christian nation. The attitude we call conservatism is sustained by a body of sentiments, rather than by a system of ideological dogmata. Against same-sex marriage? . (1964) is a conservative classic—as relevant today as it was a half century ago. Against regulation? . For there exists no Model Conservative, and conservatism is the negation of ideology: it is a state of mind, a type of character, a way of looking at the civil social order. Basic fiscal conservatism. Conservatism, as a political and moral philosophy in the Anglo-American tradition, has a long history that is usually traced back to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). Abortion is the murder of a human being. Conservatives long believed—and conservative elected officials at least paid lip service to the belief—that taxpayer money is a public trust, to be spent wisely and, where possible, sparingly. An unborn baby, as a living human being, has separate rights from those of the mother. Conservatism definition, the disposition to preserve or restore what is established and traditional and to limit change. Conservative Human life begins at conception. https://www.britannica.com/topic/conservatism/General-characteristics Conservatism is partly a belief in pragmatism, which means not changing things unless there is a very good reason to do so. Oppose taxpayer-funded abortion. This is absurd. Conservatism promotes (and so does liberalism, misguidedly) the idea that liberalism is about activist government where conservatism is not. Burke, the Irish-born philosopher and politician, was not against all change. It is unrelated to the history of conservative government. Conservatism means freedom and small government — we are taxed enough already! Scott Olson/Getty Images. What Is Conservatism? .