People who want to protect the environment are called “conservationists” because they don’t want things to change in detrimental ways. If you’re being generous, you can say the same thing about political “conservatives.” They are more interested in preserving the “tried and true” than in experimenting with newfangled ideas and solutions. To them, there’s no reason to mess with traditional religion, traditional family structures, traditional gender roles, or traditional economic arrangements because what has worked in the past should work in the future. And if they don’t always consider that many things didn’t work too well in the past for a lot of people, I can still see both the basic impulse and general wisdom that underlies political conservatism.
Now, for conservationists, they can look at the terrible wildfires that are enveloping Hawai’i and correctly point out that the introduction of non-native grasses to the island state is a major contributor. These grasses were introduced when Europeans arrived and cleared land to raise cattle and grow pineapples and other crops. It’s an example of human-caused environmental change which always come with a risk of unforeseen consequences.
But what do we call it when political conservatives ban nicknames in public school? If I’m ‘Thomas’ but prefer to be called ‘Tom,” I could have a problem in Ron DeSantis’s Florida?
In an email sent Tuesday morning, parents and guardians of Seminole County students were advised that school districts in the state are now “required to develop a form to obtain parental consent to use any deviation or nickname from the child’s legal name in school.”
“If you would like for your child to be able to use a name aside from their legal given name on any of our campuses, we will ask for you to complete the consent form titled ‘Parental Authorization for Deviation from Student’s Legal Name Form.'”
The conservatism here is trying to prevent boys from using girls’ names or pronouns, and vice-versa, but it hits everyone. My son has used his middle name since nursery school and now he needs a waiver to prevent his teachers from using his first name?
This isn’t conserving anything. It’s nothing but panicked radicalism and political opportunism. It’s another example of why American conservatism doesn’t deserve its own name.
