I think we agree that most self-identified conservatives aren’t actually very invested in the status quo or tradition, and are actually regressive reactionaries, but I think it’s a clearer point to say that most self-identified conservatives aren’t in fact conservative, than that conservatism isn’t actually what people (claim they) mean when they say conservative. At that point, conservatism loses its meaning.
I think we agree that most self-identified conservatives aren’t actually very invested in the status quo or tradition, and are actually regressive reactionaries, but I think it’s a clearer point to say that most self-identified conservatives aren’t in fact conservative, than that conservatism isn’t actually what people (claim they) mean when they say conservative. At that point, conservatism loses its meaning.
Conservatism hasn’t lost its meaning, conservatism just never meant what conservatives claimed it meant; it’s always been a façade.
Conservatism is about conserving (and reinforcing) power structures; all talk about ‘tradition’ and ‘stability’/‘status-quo’ is wool over your eyes.
The status quo is white supremacy, patriarchy, gender norms, and capitalism. That is what they are conserving. Those are the traditions.