Trying to define a label as broad as conservative always results in gross generalizations. But I basically agree with you and was trying to make a similar point.
The Left-Right divide is about ideology, not status quo versus "change". But since the Left has been winning for 400 years, the debate often gets phrased in terms of "restoring the past" versus "progress".
In broad strokes, the Right believes in common law, property rights, localism, and acknowledging the reality of innate inequality.
The Left believes in administrative law, centralization, universalism, and equality.
The Right believes that the role of government is to provide order, security, and rule of law (negative law).
The Left believes that government is an instrument for creating a perfect world.
Again, these are generalizations. But if you look at the political battles since the English Civil War, I think you'll see the sides generally breaking into two camps that generally align with my definitions. Roundheads versus Cavaliers. Levelers versus Jacbobites. Patriots versus Loyalists. Whigs versus Tories. Jacobins versus the Ancien Régime. Unionists versus Confederates. Gladstone versus the Bourbons. Bolsheviks versus the Czar. Wilson versus the Kaiser. New Dealers versus the Old Right. Obama versus the Neocons.
You'll also notice that the left wins most of the battles. Thus the Neocons of today are far to the left of Woodrow Wilson, and Wilson is far to the left of Gladstone.
And of course, just because the Left wins does not mean they were correct and the Right was wrong. The history of politics seems to be something of a random walk. The political systems from Europe's age of reaction ( 1815-1848) were far superior to what followed. If more people had listened to Metternich's warnings about democracy leading to German nationalism, perhaps they could have avoided a couple world wars.
Incidentally, there are several ways in which the US is more conservative now than under Kennedy. The most conspicuous is tax rates.
And even the above graph leaves out seniorage, which has increased dramatically. It also leaves out quasi-taxes, such as legal mandates that require people to pay for expensive college diplomas in order to enter their chosen profession.
Our deficit is significant but our 13.84 Trillion GDP means deficit spending of 1/2 Trillion a year is less than 5%. His graph placed taxes around 12% of GDP which is just so far from the truth that it's almost meaningless.
The Left-Right divide is about ideology, not status quo versus "change". But since the Left has been winning for 400 years, the debate often gets phrased in terms of "restoring the past" versus "progress".
In broad strokes, the Right believes in common law, property rights, localism, and acknowledging the reality of innate inequality.
The Left believes in administrative law, centralization, universalism, and equality.
The Right believes that the role of government is to provide order, security, and rule of law (negative law).
The Left believes that government is an instrument for creating a perfect world.
Again, these are generalizations. But if you look at the political battles since the English Civil War, I think you'll see the sides generally breaking into two camps that generally align with my definitions. Roundheads versus Cavaliers. Levelers versus Jacbobites. Patriots versus Loyalists. Whigs versus Tories. Jacobins versus the Ancien Régime. Unionists versus Confederates. Gladstone versus the Bourbons. Bolsheviks versus the Czar. Wilson versus the Kaiser. New Dealers versus the Old Right. Obama versus the Neocons.
You'll also notice that the left wins most of the battles. Thus the Neocons of today are far to the left of Woodrow Wilson, and Wilson is far to the left of Gladstone.
And of course, just because the Left wins does not mean they were correct and the Right was wrong. The history of politics seems to be something of a random walk. The political systems from Europe's age of reaction ( 1815-1848) were far superior to what followed. If more people had listened to Metternich's warnings about democracy leading to German nationalism, perhaps they could have avoided a couple world wars.
Incidentally, there are several ways in which the US is more conservative now than under Kennedy. The most conspicuous is tax rates.
That's not true when you factor in payroll taxes, local taxes, and state taxes: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2007/10/personal-taxes-as-per...
And even the above graph leaves out seniorage, which has increased dramatically. It also leaves out quasi-taxes, such as legal mandates that require people to pay for expensive college diplomas in order to enter their chosen profession.