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Revision as of 22:29, 12 April 2001 by Jimbo Wales (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A political conservative is one who supports traditional views and values. In the United States, it is generally associated with the following views:
- Support for Judeo-Christian moral values.
- Support for strong law enforcement and strong penalties for crimes.
- Restraint in taxation and regulation of businesses.
- Support for a strong military, and well-defended closed borders.
- Support for drug prohibition.
- Opposition to gun control laws.
- Opposition to (or support for lessening) many social programs such as welfare and medical care (though many do favor the country's mandatory user-funded retirement benefits system).
- Opposition to policies such as Affirmative action and Multi-lingual education which can be perceived as government favoritism of minority groups.
Conservatives differ widely on some issues as well. For example, many support open international trade, while some support some form of protection for domestic business such as import tariffs.