The Demise of Social Conservatism: Impudence of the New American Dream

While historical evidence and politicized opinion persist regarding American conservatism as being on the rise as a phenomenon in modern twentieth-century society, presented herein is a significant challenge to the notion that a United States mecca of conservative thought from1950, has since thrived and strengthened. Two questions remain. In what ways has conservative ideology been fortified since the 1950s? And, has a culmination of conservatism marked itself to be the greatest phenomenon in modern-day American history? In answer to the latter, no – this writer thinks not. This brief commentary seeks to convey a cogent analysis, in essay form, of exploring how the philosophical and social fundamentals of American conservatism beyond the 1950s has seen its demise, in the face of a newly undaunted American Dream by considering mores of the modern family unit.  

A Working Definition of Conservatism

Researcher Kathleen Maclay, of UC Berkeley, teaches us about the importance of defining terms, links key factors associated with political conservatism. Alleviating any confusion she recalls how four experts, as a result of fifty years of data perusal through the literature, compiled a synthesis of psychological aspects of political conservatism. Thus, people's attitudes reflecting conservative ideologies show psychological components of accepting social inequality, lower tolerance for change, fearful aggression, uncertainty avoidance, dogmatism, and preaching a return to a supposed idyllic past.1 Truth be told, America's past has been anything but calmly mirthful or kind to all. Patterns psychologists looked at examined 88 samples – despite including judges' verdicts rendered – over 20,000 participants in over 12 countries, and offered several well-known public figures exemplifying the aspects, such as talk show host Rush Limbaugh, or the late Senator Strom Thurmond.2 

What's wrong with being conservative? Is it immoral to have an attitude which desires to “shun and even punish outsiders” in a more pluralistic, post-9/11 society?3 Maybe not. The point is that the American conservatism highlighted here must be distilled to the family level. The rank and file of the American family has changed. The wild rebellion of the 1960s saw to that, flipping Christianized religious and moral tradition on its head. Housewives numbers grow rare, as parental couples of rosy-cheeked kindergarteners of same-sex spouses grow – that is – families of two mommies or two daddies escalates. Sharp evidence proves that conservative thought has floundered in the latter half of the twentieth century, ripping a gash in its fabric. Television series, The Cosby Show depicted traditionally conservative family values in African-American characters, oddly appearing outdated by the end of its run in the 1990s. Ushered in with its decline, came the Rodney King riots of Los Angeles, which spread nationwide. Yet behind closed doors, the numbers of interracial marital couples and their offspring grew more common.  

American Family Social Conservatism Is Political

It might be claimed that American social conservatism must be relegated to the division of class, pitting economic groups to duel against each other. Why characterize American conservatism as best pursued via connections of politics/law, or public policy? Be fair. Keep it real. Any legitimate discourse about American conservatism properly belongs under the auspices of the American family. 

The only truly conservatism displayed in United States culture was short-lived in the 1950s, when the ideal nuclear family, TV portrayal of Leave It To Beaver, greeted viewers with serene, carefree suburban greenery devoid and untainted by the presence of darker-skinned folk. In reference to the American family's paradoxical nature, Tim Stanley reiterates conservatism's wan gasp for last breath, describing The Cosby Show as a “1950s vision” of living right and free in contrast to modern 2012 statistical estimates placing “19 percent of gay people” as raising families.4 

Conservative ideology has not energetically endorsed this, nor apparently burgeoned, at the level of the sociological and cultural impact of the American family. Politics of racism or class may allow conservatism's macrocosm to pervade, but the heart and soul of America lie behind every hamlet, shack door, rural farm, fancy lawn, flag-donned, food-stamp dependent, Southern watermelon-eating, Las Vegas gambling, and hip-hop blasting home. 

In summing up, how could anyone in their right mind represent the 'conservative' Republican presidential candidate hopeful, Herman Cain, as being anything but a loud-mouthed intellectual, whose forceful personality and prestigious education at Morehouse, America's only college of black males, to say that conservatism dominates? One may easily agree with an observer who announces Herman Cain to be rightly seen as, “firmly anchor[ed]” as it were, “in a kind of modern black political masculinity.”5 What could be more radical in America today? Social conservatism is quite dead indeed. Therefore, the so-called rise in conservatism in modern America has not been the greatest phenomenon.

Notes

1. Kathleen Maclay, “Researchers help define what makes a political conservative,” UCBerkeley New Press Release – Media Relations, n.no. (22 July 2003): n.p.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Tim Stanley, “The Changing Face of the American Family,” History Today, no. 11(2012): 10-15.

5. Erica Edwards, “Of Cain and Abel: African American Literature and the Problem of Inheritance after 9/11,” American Literary History 25, no.1 (Spring 2013): 190-204. 

Bibliography

Edwards, Erica. “Of Cain and Abel: African American Literature and the Problem of Inheritance after 9/11.” American Literary History 25, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 190-204.

Maclay, Kathleen. “Researchers help define what makes a political conservative.” UCBerkeley News Press Release – Media Relations, n. no. (22 July 2003): n.p.

Stanley, Tim. “The Changing Face of the American Family.” History Today 62, no. 11 (November 2012): 10-15. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 16, 2013).