By Jamelle Bouie’s definition – the understanding “that societies are complex systems, and that the reason to try to preserve certain norms and traditions [is] to avoid needless chaos and disruption as we change and progress. We cannot predict the full consequences of what we do, and so we should choose carefully and deliberately as we navigate the world. We should be modest in our ambitions, aware of our own fallibility and mindful of the way things can go wrong” – most of the self-described radicals I know are “conservatives.”
It’s simply that the norms and traditions they seek to conserve are things like “treating people with respect,” “treading lightly on the Earth” and “taking care of each other.”
