Often in life, we go through the motions, losing sight of why we do things or why we believe what we believe. This is the issue that faces conservatives today. Our movement has faced an intellectual stagnation in the post-Reagan era, failing to modernize policy proposals to fix today’s problems. It is this intellectual exhaustion that made the party so susceptible to a “hostile takeover” from an outsider like Trump.
As our leaders argued for lower taxes or pro-corporate policies seemingly for their own sake, Trump reminded us that conservatism is about the average person, not the elite or big business. Heck, it was Reagan who disparaged the idea “that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.”
This fight between the common citizenry and centralized elites of all kinds, whether they be in government, media, or business, has been the defining battle of the republic. In recent years, many Republicans have been on the wrong side of this fight. With his campaign and worker-oriented policies that meet our present troubles, Trump promises to return power to the average citizen and unleash our ingenuity. He should remind all conservatives just what our movement is all about: the people. We should adapt accordingly.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member