You have it too. Even if you don’t subscribe to the political philosophy that shares its name, I suspect that you feel the desire, the urge to conserve the surroundings that you love – if nothing else, to keep living where you live, with the people you know.
I respect conservatism, not only in that distilled, romantic form, but when it’s controversial, too. I respect those who don’t want their favorite white protagonist to become a person of color in a reboot show. I respect those who object to mass immigration because the cultural influx will alter their country’s character. Yes, conservatism can be pure and innocent, or aggressively nostalgic, and it’s always valid. Continuity and familiarity are always legitimate concerns in my book. Before every political decision, people’s conservatism is a factor to consider.
Of course, that doesn’t mean other factors can’t trump it. In the case of mass immigration, for instance, helping foreigners in peril or poverty seems more important to me than preserving a country’s pleasant homogeneity. As for the newly non-white character, it can be argued that representation is a kind update.
Still, conservatism should always be acknowledged, as one concern to weigh against others, one of several passions that inform people’s choices. Even when it doesn’t win, it still ought to have played a part in the deliberation. Conservatism is a feeling, and no good – personal or political – can come from disowning it.