I live in a conservative area and when I’m at the bar I sometimes hear people using the term “liberal” as a slur. I kinda makes me laugh, but also makes me a bit sad.
I tend to think that conservative is actually a description for limited cognitive means. Progress in any form or shape needs liberal thinking as you wouldn’t find any progressing features by thinking inside the box. Ergo conservatism is inherently the bane of progress. Labeling yourself, proudly even, is just a tell-tale sign that you’re either cognitively limited or afraid of progress. The weird part though is that conservatives lacked the drive to counter the idea that reactionary or regressive thinking people (i.e mostly fanatics or fascists,monarchists ) may be called conservative. They are not by the definition of the word itself