## American Conservatives

As the word implies, all conservatives wherever they fall are generally
trying to conserve *something*. Depending on the person you might get
different answers, some might say it's their culture or way of life they
want to perserve, others may defer to the "status quo" or the "rule of
law". But if I can sum that up in one core idea, I think most conservatives
would agree that they are trying to conserve institutions.

What does that mean in practice? It means having respect for history,
carefully considering which insitutions stood the test of time and which
didn't. It means being wary of reinventing the wheel considering the
many crude attempts that preceeded you thousands of years ago. Not
necessarily resistant to change -- most conservatives *do* want changes
to the law -- but take the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach.
Not a pessimisitic outlook on life (as liberals might sometimes claim),
but a humble one, that recognizes that people usually get things wrong
before things go right.

These arguments were inspired by points from various authors and
commentators. This is not an endorsement of their work necessarily, or
that they originated these arguments, just that I heard it best
articulated by them at some point.

- Edmund Burke
- Glenn Beck / my high school history teacher
- Jordan Peterstein
- Ben Shapiro

## American Liberals