Is there anything positive about contemporary American conservativism? Is there a vision of what they want, or is it what they don't want?

American Conservatism believes in equal opportunity, equal justice, individualism and charity. It holds in great reverence the Constitution and it's ideals of limited federal government and natural (individual) rights. Individual rights are those inherent in the people and do not need an outside enabler (like government) to make them work. It also believes in the power and ability of free market principles to make everyones’ life better. Although these are principles on Conservatism, it is also pragmatic to bend to a certain extent to non-Conservative principles that may already be in place. For instance, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid may be over-steps of limited Federal government, but they are willing to live with them and just reform them from the bloated, bureaucratic, wasteful mess they are. Neither would it want to go back to the pure Capitalistic, exploitative days of the Industrial Revolution. Conservatism has no problem with natural inequity in life, just as long as individuals are not blocked or impeded in their rising above those inequities. The implied Constitutional mandate of the proper role of government, being the protection of rights and liberties of it's citizens, is the mechanism that support this. This does not guarantee happiness, but it protects their pursuit of it. The individual's abilities are what determines how far they can go. For those who have difficulty, there is charity, even a hand-up from government to a certain extent, but not a handout. Compassion is not measured by how many people can be taken care of by government, but by how many DON'T have to be taken care of by government, trapped by welfare.

I think you have to examine the consequences of fiscal liberalism. I am a fiscal conservative. I am very concerned about the national debt. I realize that if interest rates revert to their historic norm, the interest on the national debt will completely consume our federal discretionary programs. I know that interest rates are being kept artificially low by flooding the economy with fiat money, which devalues existing money. Do you know that a dollar today can buy what two cents could buy a hundred years ago?

"Conservatism is the politics of prudence, which begins with acceptance of the fact that, more often than not, and to a degree that is humbling to mere human beings, the inertia of history and society severely limits both the pace and degree of change that human willfulness can bring about. Or, as a wise man once said, in a battle between you and the world, bet on the world." -- George F. Will, from his book "The New Season," published in 1987.

Not that I can see.

Conservatives want an orderly, productive and well-educated society that lives within its means. Which of those objectives do Democrats disagree with?

conservatives want individual liberty and oppose government tyranny. I know the people like you who are hoping to get rich off of the tyranny really hate the people that are opposing you getting rich by stealing, but anyway. Oh and the people who really are getting rich off the tyranny are laughing at how poor and stupid you are to think you will get to be a part of them.

No, it's all "that is bad!".