How to Define Conservative?

Nebraska State Senator Laura Ebke recently posed an interesting question to her followers on Facebook about how they each define their ideological approaches to political questions. The post was sufficiently thought provoking that it merits a more substantive response than the medium of Facebook permits.

https://www.facebook.com/laura.ebke/posts/10155613183470329

A true conservative is someone fights to preserve the natural rights to life, liberty, and property that civil society is formed to defend. In pursuing these ends, the true conservative chooses methods that are consistent with the Constitution, rule of law, and minimize the size and coercive force of the state. A true conservative is not someone who merely seeks to conserve the “status quo.”

In contrast a progressive is someone who uses the coercive force of the state to bend society toward the progressive’s subjective view of utopia. Falling into this category are those for whom their ends are something other than the preservation of natural rights or their means are at odds with principles of limited government. A “big-government conservative” is actually a progressive.