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“Conservative” and “liberal” are not constants like the speed of light. At any given point in history, liberals are those who believe current conditions and values can and should be improved, while conservatives are those who believe conditions and values should either remain as they are or revert back to some earlier ideal.
The Founding Fathers of our country, whose ideas and writings are much admired by today’s conservatives, were the liberals of their day. In the 1770s conservatives were loyal to the crown and wanted to remain as British subjects. Our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the very idea of a government of, for and by the people were radically progressive ideas at the time.
MAGA stands for “make America great again” but MAGA followers appear to have forgotten important parts of what made our country great in the first place. MAGA rightly celebrates American grit and determination, and the rugged individualism and self reliance that are part of our national character. But they seemingly forget the pursuit of justice, the imperative that all citizens be equal before the law, respect for those with whom we disagree and acceptance of democratic outcomes whether they go our way or not. These are also values the fathers of our country held as foundational. I think that if MAGA supporters really were conservatives, they would uphold these values, too.
Meredith Ares
Orono
