Your Mom’s A Blog

In a recent e-mail exchange I was given one man’s perspective on Conservatism; what it means and how it is manifested.  My knee jerk reaction was to ignore his points as being overly biased, somewhat emotional, and generally uninformed.  As I thought about it I began to realize that I have never looked into the origins of Conservatism to determine if Conservatism in America is anything like Conservatism elsewhere or if it bears a resemblance to its earliest formulations.  To that end I did a little research and found a simple outline of Conservative philosophy which I will quote after a few more words.  I was hoping anyone reading this would contrast and compare my findings with their personal definition of Conservatism.

Conservatism as a philosophy, political or otherwise seems to have its origins in a gentleman by the name of Edmund Burke.  Burke was writing in response to events that took place during the French Revolution.  For those who are not historians, there are mixed responses to the French Revolution.  On one hand it saw the overthrow of a monarchy, that was resident in the nation where the revolution took place, and established a republic.  At the same time there where huge numbers of people slaughtered, France didn’t fair well in the world in the time immediately afterward and arguably this paved the way for Napoleon to come to power.

[Here are the essential tenants of Burke’s philosophy.
(1) Man is basically a religious animal, and religion is the foundation of civil society.  A divine sanction infuses the legitimate, existing, social order.
(2) Society is the natural, organic product of slow historical growth.  Existing institutions embody the wisdom of previous generations.  Right is a function of time.  “Prescription,” in the words of Burke, “is the most solid of all titles…”
(3) Man is a creature of instinct and emotions as well as reason.  Prudence, prejudice, experience, and habit are better guides than reason, logic, abstractions, and metaphysics.  Truth exists not in universal propositions but in concrete experiences.
(4) The community is superior to the individual.  The rights of men derive from their duties.  Evil is rooted in human nature, not in any particular social institutions.
(5) Except in an ultimate moral sense, men are unequal.  Social organization is complex and always includes a variety of classes, orders, and groups.  Differentiation, hierarchy, and leadership are the inevitable characteristics of any civil society.
(6) A presumption exists “in favor of any settled scheme of government against any untried project….”  Man’s hopes are high, but his vision is short.  Efforts to remedy existing evils usually result in even greater ones.]

Ultimately Conservatism is the espousal of the status quo in all things except at the utmost end of need.  What do you think?

Information in brackets is copied from Conservatism As An Ideology, by Samuel P. Huntington, Harvard University