No, I’m sorry, but it never really meant that at all. Conservativism is always and only about conserving hereditary power. There is no “social conservatism” or “fiscal conservatism”. Those are the false rationalizations of Reaganism for the real types of conservatism:
- Conservation of white power over nonwhites
- Conservation of male power over nonmales
- Conservation of hereditary wealth over workers
Contrary to Red Trihs above, I wouldn’t say conservatism prioritizes cruelty. All things being equal they’d rather be peacefully obeyed as in ages past. But they prioritize the right to be cruel because this creates the atmosphere of intimidation that underpins the other forms of power they do prioritize. And you can only credibly claim the right to cruelty if you’re seen exercising it.
There is no “social conservatism” or “fiscal conservatism”, these are just different ways conservatives describe how they’re willing to treat others to conserve their own power. We all need to be clear that this was always just Reaganite whitewashing over conservatism’s uglier realities.