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The [[censorability]] of an open source conservative (such as a Tea Partier) is lower than the censorability of a traditional conservative (such as a Reagan Republican). An open source conservative is more opposed to the [[censorship]] of ideas by [[liberals]] or even by other [[conservatives]].
The [[censorability]] of an open source conservative (such as a Tea Partier) is lower than the censorability of a traditional conservative (such as a Reagan Republican). An open source conservative is more opposed to the [[censorship]] of ideas by [[liberals]] or even by other [[conservatives]].
== Advantages ==
== Advantages of Open Source Conservatism ==
There are several advantages to an "open source" approach with respect to the conservative movement:
There are several advantages to an "open source" approach with respect to the conservative movement:
*Open source conservatism facilitates learning and improvement better than other approaches.
*Open source conservatism facilitates learning and improvement better than other approaches.
== Disadvantages of Closed Source Conservatism ==
In order to understand the disadvantages of closed-source conservatism, it is important to understand the history of conservatism--a history of decentralized, citizen-driven initiatives. The [[Boston Tea Party]] wasn't planned by a massive national bureaucracy; it was a spontaneous response to the failure of political negotiation. Conservatism, historically, has served as a counterbalance against entrenched interests and power structures.
However, in recent decades, this has changed. The [[New Deal]] was such a massive expansion of centralized government that, even as conservatives struggled to resist it, they themselves were affected by it. Conservatism became more centralized, more reliant on entrenched power, and more bureaucratic. In short, the traditional conservatism of the [[Founding Fathers]] was replaced with closed-source conservatism.
Closed-source conservatism relies heavily on the idea of a top-down, entrenched power structure, in which elite expert gatekeepers are responsible for decisions. In this sense, it is more akin to [[liberalism]] than to traditional conservatism...and, in many cases, closed-source conservatives will sound more like liberals than true conservatives. Thus, when [[Rush Limbaugh]] raises powerful points against [[liberalism]], liberals will of course howl in outrage. When [[Rush Limbaugh]] criticizes the failings of a closed-source conservative like [[Michael Steele]], other closed-source conservatives howl with similar outrage, because Limbaugh is challenging the entrenched hierarchy. Thus, the closed-source conservatives dismiss him as "just an entertainer"--as if an entertainer could not have powerful and enduring insights--and insist that he "does not speak for conservatives"--as if they had the authority to declare who does and does not speak for conservatives.
In so doing, closed-source conservatives frequently (albeit unwittingly) do the work of liberals for them, and undermine the cause of conservatism.
==Examples of Open Source Conservatives==
==Examples of Open Source Conservatives==