Conservatives on the Wrong Side of Whig History

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The role of conservatives in modern politics is a source of endless fascination for me. They are not, as it might perhaps seem, just a counterparty to the progressives - their place and purpose in this system are entirely different. In reality, modern politics is not just a pendulum that keeps swinging from the left to the right as societal moods change. Western politics of 1921 would seem unbelievably left-wing to someone from 1821, and politics of 2021 would, in turn, seem unbelievably left-wing to someone from 1921. So, what is going on?