What is Conservative

Against change.

As with the introduction to Liberal, the same applies. Conservatives tend to believe: 1) There are ways of looking at issues as good/bad and right/wrong, 2) Individuals are responsible for themselves and should not rely on the government. Regarding both Liberal and Conservative, and the problems of easily and clearly defining or explaining them, are associated with the issue of self-interest. There are those who may define themselves by these terms and feel the need to explain or define whichever term they feel allied with as somehow on a higher plain where they transcend the political environment in which they may be participating. At the same time, the ‘other’ term needs to be understood in ways that demonize it. I encourage my students to think in terms of themselves as Democrats or Republicans and to avoid using the Liberal or Conservative labels. Politics seems to be associated with nasty connotations for many who want to believe they are functioning on some higher, purer plain, hence the use of the terms Liberal and Conservative These labels seem to help many people avoid thinking that what they are really doing is, in fact, participating in political activity. Admittedly, Liberal and Conservative never completely disappear, since they provide values and focus, but they need to be tempered against pragmatism, which is politics.

A person or group that seeks to preserve the status quo.

In this text, a euphemism for bigoted and anti-gay (as used by the principal to talk about the “conservative district” that censored LGBT texts).