Wouldn’t that make them “bio-reactionaries” or “bio-romantics”? Or has the equation of “conservatism” (which once denoted an inclination to preserve the status quo) with “reactionism” (desire to re-instate the status quo ante), “romanticism” (promotion of some vanished, idealized past), or raw fascism (power is its own logic) pervaded even these hallowed halls? Do we have a name for what was once called conservatism, or does the concept no longer have any meaningful referent?
Part of the problem is that reactionaries call themselves “conservative” even though, you’re right, they really aren’t.
In the US, equal rights for women is really a conservative idea in the original sense, because it’s something that our culture has already mostly accepted. People arguing against it aren’t conserving the status quo, they are harkening back to some bygone halycon era.
But think of how weird it sounds to say that feminists are conservative! So I think the term in practice has moved away from its original etymological meaning.
Wouldn’t that make them “bio-reactionaries” or “bio-romantics”? Or has the equation of “conservatism” (which once denoted an inclination to preserve the status quo) with “reactionism” (desire to re-instate the status quo ante), “romanticism” (promotion of some vanished, idealized past), or raw fascism (power is its own logic) pervaded even these hallowed halls? Do we have a name for what was once called conservatism, or does the concept no longer have any meaningful referent?
Part of the problem is that reactionaries call themselves “conservative” even though, you’re right, they really aren’t.
In the US, equal rights for women is really a conservative idea in the original sense, because it’s something that our culture has already mostly accepted. People arguing against it aren’t conserving the status quo, they are harkening back to some bygone halycon era.
But think of how weird it sounds to say that feminists are conservative! So I think the term in practice has moved away from its original etymological meaning.