“I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it.”
-John Stuart Mill, in Parliamentary debate with Conservative MP John Pakington circa 1886
Say the word “conservative” to an American audience and one is bound to raise a whole menagerie of associations and images.
From the Opposite side of the political spectrum, one may think of an overweight Caucasian male who hails from what those from the Northeastern Megalopolis and Southern California pejoratively call “Flyover country.” The person will undoubtedly be characterized as unsophisticated, educationally-backward, mildly homophobic and racist, greedy, sexist,fat, and religious with a love of guns, football, and NASCAR.
And of course, he votes Republican.
As the quote from the classical liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill, ironically a hero of modern conservatism, demonstrates – thinking of your opposition in the worst possible terms is a time honored tradition that humanity obeys whatever the age or era.
So what is Conservatism? Where did it come from? What are its origins?
If we take a few steps back from the perennial debate over value issues, what a person will find is a whole philosophical disposition, or to it plainly – a psychological attitude born of a strong human propensity to maintain things as they are.
One pundit likened it to the “feeling one gets when returning home from a long vacation in a far off land – a sense of comfort surrounded by what seems familiar.”
I like to think about it in terms that i’m sure everyone can relate to – namely the generational conflict a person has with his/her parents regarding tastes in music, food, clothing, art, and entertainment. There is always a strong propensity to stay with the things and ideas that have worked for you.
In the arena of politics than, conservatism of a traditionalist bent can be summarized as: a skeptical outlook toward radical change. This shouldn’t be interpreted as being against all change, that outlook is more reactionary than conservative. Rather the conservative mindset understands that change will come, but greets these changes with a sense of caution and patience. Prudence, not enthusiasm, remains the cardinal virtue.
Another central plank of the conservative attitude is a skepticism toward perfectionism, especially in terms of redesigning society.
Whether we are speaking about Plato’s Republic, a 1,000 year German Fascist Reich, an politicized Islamist Caliphate, or a Communist Worker’s paradise one thing remains common throughout all these blueprints for a better society – a sense of Utopianism wherein the supporters of those visions might bring about some sort of perfection in society that fits their taste.
Traditionalist conservatism rejects all those mirages. All planned societies rest upon a set of first principles that cannot encompass the complexity and diversity found in the world. This results in the use of coercion to enforce those principles upon a population that is found to be non-compliant. Furthermore, the set of principles articulated at the beginning may not be able to withstand the force of social change brought on by chance or technological innovation. After all, how can one predict and account for options that one didn’t even know existed?
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A question does linger in my mind though when stepping back and trying to evaluate traditional conservatism: When is someone being conservative and when is he or she being reactionary?
While individual conservative thinkers and leaders have shown a remarkable adeptness to change with the times, one has to wonder a little about the actions of their supporters.
There are moments when one feels that the intransigence one encounters when dealing with a conservative seems more linked to a fear of change rather than the protection of a tradition.
Echo House 