That's playing the Left's game of redefining words. I don't subscribe to that. The proper (original) definition of the term has been posted. All of this interpretation is amusing.
Neoconservatism means neoconservatism, which includes me since I came from the Left to the Right, as did many other prominent figures on the Right.
I won't play the game of switcheroo with the meanings of words. That's the Left's game. Now why are those on the Right engaged in the same practice?
It's hypocritical.
Why, then, please tell me: Do you own any land? I don't mean rent, but actually own it? If not, then I must say you're not at all a gentleman, since the *original* meaning of the word "gentleman" was someone who owned land -- nothing more.
My, but if you open a dictionary today, you will see several more definitions attached to it. How astionishing!
As some people know, word definitions frequently change, sometimes to the point that the word is rendered useless. These changes are tracked by Usage Boards, which is also how new words get into dictionaries: if a word gains sufficient usage or importance, it usually will eventually wind up in the dictionary. The same for new definitions of existing words or obsolecence of words and meanings.
The 'proper' definition of a word is the meaning(s) currently in widespread use. You can cling to an archaic definition of 'neo-conservative' if you like, but if your worldviews and mine part ways in a fundamental manner, then I certainly can't label you with the same political belief system that I have. The question becomes what is the standard and whose beliefs have moved furthest from it.
It may therefore well be that you are a conservative, and it is I who have become something else. If individual rights and a strong adherence to the US Constitution are fundamental aspects of Conservatism here in the US, then I guess I'm a conservative, and if you care more about global corporations than individual rights and the US Constitution, then I would say that you are *not* a Conservative, but something else. That something else *I* call neo-conservatism, but there may well be other, better labels for it.
In the end, it will all come down to how the majority of people define the terms, just as it does with words in a dictionary.
Tuor