In defense of conservatism, I'll just say that at some points in history, rugged individualism and not trusting politicians were considered conservative values.
I'm afraid the problem has more to do with human nature than conservatism or liberalism. People in general want to feel like they are part of a tribe, that their tribe is the best, that their tribe is winning, and that what they do is righteous, and people who do things differently than them are wrong and bad. It doesn't even matter that in the modern day tribes are obvious granfalloons. Populism is crack for high-functioning people.
I'm afraid the problem has more to do with human nature than conservatism or liberalism. People in general want to feel like they are part of a tribe, that their tribe is the best, that their tribe is winning, and that what they do is righteous, and people who do things differently than them are wrong and bad. It doesn't even matter that in the modern day tribes are obvious granfalloons. Populism is crack for high-functioning people.
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto