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Introduction
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology, which seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in which it appears. In Western culture, depending on the particular nation, conservatives seek to promote and preserve a range of institutions, such as the nuclear family, organised religion, the military, the nation-state, property rights, rule of law, aristocracy, and monarchy. Conservatives tend to favour institutions and practices that enhance social order and historical continuity.
Edmund Burke, an 18th-century Anglo-Irish statesman who opposed the French Revolution but supported the American Revolution, is credited as one of the forefathers of conservative thought in the 1790s along with Savoyard statesman Joseph de Maistre. The first established use of the term in a political context originated in 1818 with François-René de Chateaubriand during the period of Bourbon Restoration that sought to roll back the policies of the French Revolution and establish social order.
Conservatism has varied considerably as it has adapted itself to existing traditions and national cultures. Thus, conservatives from different parts of the world, each upholding their respective traditions, may disagree on a wide range of issues. Historically associated with right-wing politics, the term has been used to describe a wide range of views. Conservatism may be either libertarian or authoritarian, populist or elitist, progressive or reactionary, moderate or extreme. (Full article...)
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Conservative: One who admires radicals a century after they're dead.
— Leo Rosten, in R.L. Woods's The Modern Handbook of Humor (1967)
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La Gaceta was established on August 4, 1912, by Alberto García Hamilton, an Uruguayan publisher who left for neighboring Argentina following a political dispute. La Gaceta earned a reputation for conservatism, and was opposed to populist leader Hipólito Yrigoyen during the 1920s, as well as to the pro-development administration of Arturo Frondizi, who had the paper censored in 1960.
Credit: Jlazarte
Did you know...
- ...that in 1984 Ronald Reagan timed his first presidential proclamation of National Sanctity of Human Life Day to coincide with the anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade?
- ...that the Minute Women of the U.S.A. was a militantly anti-communist organization for American housewives in the 1950s?
- ... that Norwegian botanist and politician Olaf Alfred Hoffstad taught at Sandefjord Upper Secondary School for almost 43 years?
Selected anniversaries in June
- 1979 – in the United States, the Moral Majority is founded by Jerry Falwell and Paul Weyrich.
- 1983 – the United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945.
- 1987 – in a reference to the Berlin Wall, US President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall!"
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