What Does "Conservative" Mean?

[Lemur]

Hitler was a conservative though.

Not only are you in blatant violation of Godwin's Law*, but you're forgetting that Adolf was head of the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

Conservative: Acknowledges change is inevitable, but prefers to react in a measured fashion to changes as they occur. All things being equal, an individual with this outlook would be comfortable with the status quo. Often has a fondness for the "good old days" and worries that changes may take the society/culture in question away from "core" values.

Liberal: Not only acknowledges change to be inevitable, but often seeks to encourage change in order to redress perceived inequities discernible within the status quo. An individual with this outlook values freedom of thought and expression. Thus, Eurpeans tend to use "liberal" as in generous or expansive of thought ("Liberal Arts").

This is the best definition I've seen in the thread thus far, although it ain't perfect. (I guess any one-dimensional definition, no matter how well parsed, is going to leave you dissatisfied.)



* Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm actually referring to the #1 corollary to Godwin's Law, not the law itself. Shut up and stop being pedantic.