Conservatives and Republicans

Same or different?

By Darryl Weng

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Last year, Biden tried to prevent GOP majorities by taking drastic measures such as forgiving student loans and using up the petroleum reserve. Unluckily, the 118th Congress now has a Republican House. But, luckily for Biden and the Democratic Party, befuddled Republicans are unable to find a consensus over political strategies.

15 voting sessions later and numerous absurd concessions later, Kevin McCarthy is elected House Speaker - elected to the role without the job. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wasted no time and immediately pushed for bipartisan efforts; Biden is proud of his longtime colleague, but most Republicans aren’t as ecstatic.

Republicans are in an atrocious position with untouched agendas. McCarthy reportedly considered the defense budget the newest sacrifice to the financial chopping block. What happened to the Republican pride in America’s military? McConnell attempted to put Republicans back in good grace, allowing bipartisan deals to create passageways for GOP legislation to come through. Yet, House Republicans have no clear goal, except for continuing their anti-woke, anti-liberal, and anti-spending “agendas”. Even the majority of Senate Republicans are not sold on McConnell’s actions and might as well be in the same boat as House Republicans.

Politically, there are two consequences for the GOP. First, the Biden presidency continues its agenda without major obstacles. Second, the Republicans now lack a purpose, an agenda, and, worst of all, an identity. If one asks about a Republican’s political ideology, one would most likely say conservative, coupled with a “duh” or an “of course”. But the definition of conservatism has changed drastically over the years, and the political divide has resulted in excessive labels misrepresenting what conservatism is.

Far-left and far-right politicians have turned conservatism into an amoral, racist, populist, authoritarian, and forever contradicting symbol. Even more worrisome is the influence the small-numbered radical Republicans have amassed.

So it is time to personally make a statement on true conservatism, since Republican politicians, commentators, and pundits refuse to. I do not speak on behalf of the so-called GOP silent majority, nor do I speak on behalf of a so-called moderate wing of Republicans willing to engage with liberal agendas. I am here to vindicate conservatism from the perspective of a young conservative who refuses to back down in the face of radicals from both sides while defending the modern American conservative movement.

First and foremost, conservatism[1] fundamentally strives to maintain a realistic perspective(contrary to modern liberalism’s idealistic approach) on human nature and society. This is often misunderstood, as many Americans view this perspective as athwart change. Instead of advocating utopian ideas, conservatism understands the limitations of individuals and attempts to offer optimal solutions. A progressive or liberal might argue that climate change is an issue of great importance and, therefore, requires substantial effort for a mass transition to green energy. Meanwhile, conservatives would argue for gradual change(perhaps a small addition of nuclear power plants). They understand that, while climate change is a major environmental concern, monetary and human costs also exist in the problem. Conservatives are not against green energy. They are simply realistic.

Being realistic is only a generalization, however. To be able to make a statement on human nature and society, one has to have basic principles to create a perspective. Usually, culture(e.g. women status in the Middle East) and religion(e.g. Catholic view on abortion rights) are the foundations and may heavily influence what the term realistic means. As for the starting point at which all complex conservative thought derived from, it is the foundation and values America was built upon - individual liberty, capitalism, and anti-monarchism. The Founding Fathers worked hard to promote an American government that could govern while still maintaining liberty and preventing monarchies or autocracies. America’s society was also built around a capitalist[2] system where the success and worth of an individual would be measured by members of the society. In summary, the more value society sees in an individual, the more value the individual him/herself is worth. This system - America’s democratic republic - combined with capitalism still remains as the finest society model in all of human history. And, so, it is only logical that conservatism in the United States be based on the values our country was born with.

In other words, conservatives are patriotic. But those pro-American values also apply to foreign countries, as conservatives would be opposed to countries with anti-American values and supportive of countries with pro-American values. In fact, according to this argument and contrary to popular opinion, conservatives should be completely against isolationism, as they would advocate for the spread of democracy and condemn oppressive governments. To say that conservatives are against supporting Ukraine in the war is erroneous. A true conservative politician would welcome budgets to fund Ukraine’s war effort, but that does not dissuade such politician to block or delay such budgets that include highly unnecessary - and unrelated to Ukraine - spendings that continue to drain America’s economy in a period of recession.

So, if a Republican blocks a bill supporting Ukraine’s war effort, think twice. Either it’s a conservative decision or a complete, blasphemous, disgusting political move. But which one is it? And, thus, we return to the greatest dilemma for conservatives in the 21st century - is the Republican Party no longer the party of conservatives?

David Brooks gave that answer in an Atlantic article. He argued that the modern Republican Party has lost its conservative values and no longer stands virtuous. Brooks correctly points out the flaws in the GOP, but those flaws are not a proper representation of the entire party. If the Republican Party means Fox News, mass media, Trump, and loud, infamous radical right-wingers, then the GOP ought to be hammered by Brook’s words. Ironically, Brook fell into his enemies’ trap, perceiving the Republican Party through the lens of nearly every anti-conservative in existence; he even wrote a commentary on The Atlantic - not only is this not a conservative magazine, but it is also consistently among the most politically progressive news outlets.

Thank god, Brooks is wrong.

The Republican Party is just like any other party. There are factions and ideological differences within the party. Just like any other party, Republicans must deal with their radical wing, preventing it from outspeaking others. Sadly, in a time when mass media leans politically left and plays the political climate like a fiddle, Republicans face two fronts - radical right-wingers and the Democratic Party who is more than eager to take advantage of the GOP’s political weakness. As of right now, the Republicans are in a pickle where the conservatives of the party are being suppressed by the radicals. Atleast, the conservatives still maintain a majority in the party.

This no sour note to end on. This does not mean the Republican Party is in a detrimental state. Conservatism is still at the core of the GOP. Whether or not conservatism can return as the loudest voice in the Republican Party is up to future voters. That is all from me.

1. Conservatism in this article refers to American conservatism

2. America’s economic system bears slightly more resemblance to a free-market economy than a mixed-market economy