At all times in any country there were different, sometimes sharply opposed views on the same problem, event or some teachings. By belonging to one of the parties, parties were formed, the confrontation of which among themselves forces, in the end, any formation to develop and move forward.
Unity of extremes
There are different views on absolutely everything, conservatism is no exception. Opponents, for whom this word is almost a pejorative, consider him a commitment to everything bony and obsolete, a log on the path of progress, and his follower is a routinist, a reactionary, a man of the old cut and hardening. Supporters consider themselves the guardians of cultural and spiritual traditions, the social world order. A conservative is, first of all, the opposite of a revolutionary, a supporter of gradual progress based on the preservation of what has been achieved.
The emergence of the concept
The etymology of a word meaning ideological adherence to traditional values sends researchers to a French nounconservatisme, which comes from the Latin verb conservo, which means "preserve". As a term defining a certain view, it was first used by the French writer, a representative of romanticism, Francois René de Chateaubriand, who from 1818 began publishing a magazine under the same name. The periodical "Conservator" not only outlined the views of the elite groups of feudal society, dissatisfied with revolutionary innovations, but, first of all, positioned conservatism as an established holistic worldview system with a certain perception of the world around, which is based on a person's natural desire to stabilize, strengthen and preserve habitual habitat.
A conservative is not always a retrograde
There can be nothing wrong with the ability to store, as such. Thanks to the safety of mankind, there are traditions, the memory of ancestors, the history of countries and the planet as a whole. In the best sense of the word, a conservative is a person who realizes that there is no future without a past. Such people, as a rule, are cautious, but it is not a fact that they perceive everything new with hostility. But always and everywhere there are extremes - and the keepers of traditions turn, at best, into "Old Believers", at worst - into obscurantists. The term denoting such a community of people acquires negative features and becomes a household word. And then, even an ordinary person, an adherent of a normal, natural, traditional way of life, who does not perceive gay parades, is labeled a “conservative”. This isnot even extreme. This is cynicism. Or an ailment that society will recover from and will continue to move towards a brighter future, having in its composition, as it always has, different, opposite, sharply polemic views and theories.
A certain belief system
The very system of beliefs called conservatism arose as a response not to the French Revolution, but to the huge amount of blood spilled by it. The years 1792-1794 are known in world history as the years of horror. That is, an ideological movement called conservatism arose as a natural defensive reaction of a society that saw how, in a fit of madness, the crowd executed first the monarch, and then the people who pushed it to commit a crime. In this case, a conservative is a person who took the side of values that have been tested and justified by time, the basic of which is the rule of law and the gradual development of society.
Birth of the party
The system of views under the influence of the most prominent people of that time was formed into a party that has been in power in many European countries since the Restoration, that is, after the restoration of the power of the Bourbons - 1814-1830. But in England the party preaching these views was born in the 17th century, after its Restoration, after Cromwell. And it was called "Tory", and in 1832, on its own initiative, it was renamed "Conservative". At the time of its inception, the party was progressive in nature, as it fought against religiousobscurantism - in 1677 the law of "witch hunting" was abolished (although this happened with the active participation of the "Whigs", or Democrats). This case may be an example that a conservative is a party member who supported a progressive innovation.
Sometimes devotees
In some issues, people who preach conservative views are not only on the side of progress, but are ascetics. It is about preserving the traditional family and religion. As noted above, conservatism stands for the preservation of values that have stood the test of time. Despite the massive support for the fight against Christianity, the footage in which a naked, stupid, ugly feminist cuts down and brings down a cross, as a rule, causes disgust. And in this particular case, a conservative is a person who will definitely be outraged by what is happening and will call a spade a spade, because these are his convictions - you can’t blow up churches and bring down crosses. Unfortunately, in our time, such an act requires specific courage - everyone who passed by turned away and did not stop the demoniac. So who are the conservatives who, as a rule, sharply oppose such lawlessness of a militant and aggressive minority? In some cases, heroes and ascetics. And the "progressive" supporters of the modern vision of human relationships are turning into obscurantists, and all their parades do not resemble holidays, but medieval burnings of heretics. As you know, society develops in a spiral. Therefore, many theories become either progressive or regressive. And indifferent times the question "who are conservatives" can be answered in different ways.
Popularity of the same-root term "conservation"
The term itself, which means preservation, has found wide use in everyday life - stopping construction in order to continue more successfully, creating strategic reserves, technical measures to protect against corrosion of a large number of parts, and what every family in the territory is familiar with CIS - preparation of products for the winter. All this is called conservation. The question "Conservative - what is it?" confuses. "What?" implies referring to an inanimate object, and is apparently referring to a preservative. In this case, we can name a substance that promotes preservation, such as vinegar. The term "conservation" can denote the termination of the issuance of certain benefits that are possible in good times, and unacceptable in times of distress. That is, conservation can be viewed as the suspension of a flow in order to save. Canned open deposits of natural resources. The reasons may be different. Most often, the development is unprofitable - the lack of entrances, depth of occurrence, etc. Sometimes the riches of the earth are left for the future. And in this case, to the question "Conservative - who is this?" you can answer that this is a person who cares about the welfare of future generations.
