The Anti-Liberal Obsession of Mainstream Conservatives
By Chidike Okeem
If there is any principal identifying theme of mainstream American conservatives today, it is their complete opposition to liberals. While being on the opposite side of liberals is understandable, it should not be the most crucial element of a serious conservative worldview. It is deeply problematic when the primary concern of the conservative is to be seen as being on the opposite side of liberals, as this often leads to conservatives taking immoral positions on various sociopolitical issues that inadvertently harm the conservative cause.
Serious conservatives are not supposed to look at what positions liberals take on various issues and irresponsibly argue the other side. Serious conservatives should be confident in using a conservative analytical rubric to arrive at positions—irrespective of what liberals believe. Conservative analysis should be birthed out of organic and rigorous reflection—not a knee-jerk desire to be opposed to prominent liberals. The primary goal of the serious conservative should be to reason as lucidly as possible using a conservative ideological framework and best convey conservative principles to others. The primary goal of the hyper-partisan mainstream pseudo-conservative is to be opposed to the liberal—particularly for remunerative gain.