If by conservative we refer to the people the media calls conservative, basically Republicans, then yes they are more interested in getting power than shrinking government. A political party is on the opposite end of the realpolitik spectrum than a philosophy of governance. I argue they are more like (sports) teams than centers of ideological political thought.
I think people vote for their ideology. And what they get is a bunch of entrenched people trying to profit. It's what the people want, vs what people who like to run for government office want.
I'm not sure shrinking government is such a great thing. That just leads to a power vacuum and might lead to actors with even less accountability filling that vacuum.
Conservatism doesn't necessarily mean small government. That's just American conservatism. At least, claiming to want small government.
You can make any arbitrary criteria for "no different than liberals", and I'm not even saying that conservatives are any different. I can say: unless you abolish government entirely, you're no different than liberals. Not according to that extreme standard.
Interestingly, nationalism and liberalism were intertwined in the early 19th century.
If by conservative we refer to the people the media calls conservative, basically Republicans, then yes they are more interested in getting power than shrinking government. A political party is on the opposite end of the realpolitik spectrum than a philosophy of governance. I argue they are more like (sports) teams than centers of ideological political thought.
I think people vote for their ideology. And what they get is a bunch of entrenched people trying to profit. It's what the people want, vs what people who like to run for government office want.
I'm not sure shrinking government is such a great thing. That just leads to a power vacuum and might lead to actors with even less accountability filling that vacuum.
Conservatism doesn't necessarily mean small government. That's just American conservatism. At least, claiming to want small government.
You can make any arbitrary criteria for "no different than liberals", and I'm not even saying that conservatives are any different. I can say: unless you abolish government entirely, you're no different than liberals. Not according to that extreme standard.