If we continue Reagan’s quote, linked up above, we can see just how far off the god damned rails today’s Conservatives are: "The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.”
That’s the sales pitch.
The real basis of conservatism is the establishment of in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. Anything a conservative tells you the “basis” is is a lie to con gullible people to buy into their own self-destruction for the benefit of wealthy narcissists. Conservatism is political narcissism.
That’s the sales pitch.
The real basis of conservatism is the establishment of in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. Anything a conservative tells you the “basis” is is a lie to con gullible people to buy into their own self-destruction for the benefit of wealthy narcissists. Conservatism is political narcissism.