Our present situation calls for more humility and conservatism than our over-all society is used to, lest the future become remarkably unsatisfactory. There have been times that may have called for, and certainly saw, liberalism and confidence, and for the same reason, lest that moment’s future should have developed in a remarkably unsatisfactory direction. My concepts don’t change, liberalism and conservatism at their cores don’t change, but the times certainly do, and so does my preference as to which approach we need more have, and which, less of. These days I’m proudly conservative…

Politics by definition is the interaction of competing vested interests. The differences are on the one hand matters of priority amongst one’s values, some focused more on retaining the valuable within our inheritance, and others focused on whatever is unsatisfactory about present conditions. Similarly to gender-biased role assignments, some are more aggressively venturing forth, others are more protectively nurturing, both views and both roles over time having equal value (or else one set would be extinct). On the other hand, situations change.

Thanks. Liberals like to believe that those things are descriptive of liberalism, true as matters of fact, and that it would be a good thing if those first two assertions were valid, which it would not. Myself, I don't care what else government does as long as it protects might rights. Unfortunately it's not doing such a good job of that, and to make matters worse, government is more of a cause of damage to my rights than a defense against such. Most of the gist of what I just typed applies equally to Conservatives. Ideologies, parties, and groups of people and pasterns in human attitudes all pretty much match up to the same sets of vested interests, be they material, group identity, or ideological.

EXCELLENT article. One wonders what would happen if the Greenbelt and the rest of California were to become two separate states, forced to negotiate as equals. Or how long either could even survive without what the other provides. The existing state just proves that assembled in large enough numbers, people are exactly as smart as rocks.