The Political Influences of Financial Wealth

For example, Winston Smythe Kennsington III, who has sizable bank accounts and owns oodles of corporate stock, is politically conservative in large part because conservative policies tend to support, retain, and effectively conserve his financial wealth.

Other Forms of Wealth

Physical wealth includes ownership and control over resources (labor, capital, land, and entrepreneurship) and goods (especially durable consumption goods). Those with more ownership and control of goods and resources, tend to be more conservative.

A suburban consumer like Jonathan McJohnson tends to be more conservative because he owns a house, two cars, household appliances, furniture, a computer, garden tools, and sporting equipment, even though he has almost no financial wealth.

Cultural wealth includes the body of cultural attributes, including language, religion, history, and other intangible institutions, that make up a nation. Those who share in those attributes have a greater cultural wealth, which they would like to conserve, and thus tend to be more politically conservative.

A solid citizen like Herb Haberstone, for example, has very little physical or financial wealth, but tends to have conservative political views because he shares the dominant language, religion, and history of the country. Although by no means wealthy, Herb wants to conserve the dominant intangible institutions of the country.

Favored Policies

• Safety: Conservatives favor policies that protect wealth both from other nations and other members of society. As such they tend to be strong on national defense and law enforcement. In the perpetual debate over guns versus butter, conservatives usually come out in favor of guns.


• Business Environment: Policies that promote business profitability also tend to be favored by political conservatives. As such, they are usually opposed to government regulations (such as environmental, occupational safety, and minimum wage), while they are supportive of government subsidies for capital investment (such as investment tax credits and lower capital gains taxes).


• Economic Stability: When it comes to economic stability, conservatives usually consider inflation (which erodes financial wealth) a bigger problem than unemployment (which is more harmful to people with less wealth). Conservatives also support government stabilization policies that are less likely to redistribute wealth. Monetary policy is usually preferred over fiscal policy.