I so agree. Conservatism sounds like a dirty word. I am beginning to dislike it. I would say I am very conservative, as I wanted to be a NUN..when younger. Very pure. More pure than most. Virgin when I married, NEVER felt up, or even allowed kissing on a date. I did not lie. I had to teach myself my the, white lie, to survive. As teenager, when girls asked for my lipstick, I gave them it, as I had it. I hated that because every woman knows, it messes up the slant of your lipstick. Which I hated. When I finally learned to lie and say, 'I didn't have one"..I said a quick prayer, asking God to forgive my lie. Venial sin. I've come a long way baby! My husbands complaint about me was that, I was too wholesome and good. In the mean time, he had many, many affairs on me. NOW, today, I am practical. COMMON SENSE. I can mostly tell, who is a cheater, liar, and a bit goofy. Actually studying human behavior for 30+ years helped too. I can tell very quickly, who a person..IS. Call it a curse. We need PRACTICAL. COMMON SENSE BELIEFS.
You had me right up until the last 4 words. (Not that I have ever used lipstick, even on Halloween).
You see, the Left has been selling their wares as "Common sense" solutions for so long, not much gets my hackles up like the use of that phrase in a political context. It's a trigger.
The word, "practical", as a modifier, means those beliefs are negotiable. Even Worse.
That just isn't going to appeal to folks who run on principles.
Principles are not for sale, they are immutable. It's right or it isn't.
But kids raised on fuzzy logic,, situation ethics, and 'estimating' 2+2 (and getting it wrong if their estimate happens to be 4) are going to have a tough time with that.
Unless you can rebrand the basics as what they are: a simpler, better life.
In today's market that isn't going to be easy.
BTW, some of us predicted the wrecking of the term "conservative" long ago, because so many who claimed to be it were not.
