The Essence of Conservatism

What follows is what American conversative philosopher Russell Kirk thought through his studies was the essence of conservatism:

1. Men and nations are governed by moral laws; and those laws have their origin in a wisdom that is more than human--in divine justice.
2. Power is full of danger; therefore the good state is one in which power is checked and balanced, restricted by sound constitutions and customs.
3. Men and women are not perfectible, conservatives know; and neither are political institutions.
4. Variety and diversity are the characteristics of a high civilization.
5. Property and freedom are inseparably connected; economic leveling is not economic progress.
6. Modern society urgently needs true community: and true community is a world away from collectivism.
7. Justice means that every man and every woman have the right to what is their own--to the things best suited to their own nature, to the rewards of their ability and integrity, to their property and their personality.
8. The past is a great storehouse of wisdom;
9. In the affairs of nations, the American conservative feels that his country ought to set an example to the world, but ought not to try to remake the world in its image.
10. Change and reform, conservatives are convinced, are not identical: moral and political innovation can be destructive as well as beneficial;

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I grouped these principles based on similarity. Principles 1 through 3 are what you could call moral/religious/traditional principles. Principles 4 through 7 are principles that most libertarians would agree on. They might agree on principle three but not know why (for the reason see below).

Principle three is connected to principle two and the reason for principle one. Since mankind is not perfect (dare I say fallen from grace?) mankind can be corrupted. And a imperfect person in power without morals (principle one) is dangerous. There are no restrictions on his/her behavior. As Lord Acton* once said “power corrupts.” There was a study (2012) published  in the Journal of Applied Psychology that linked a persons sense of “moral identity” to his/her ethical behavior. The higher a person’s sense of moral identity the more ethical a person would be. It doesn’t have to be moral imperfection that principle three is talking about. There is also mental imperfection. Such as prejudices, biases, memory errors, false memory syndrome, etc. Just pick up a psychological textbook to see how the mind is imperfect.

Principle four is just about individual differences. When people are the same you have boring uniformity—no complexity in civilization. But when people are their noblest natures—motivated, knowledgable, curious, creative, passionate, free—then you have the highest civilization. Also, with individual differences comes different perspectives, different opinions, and different ideas. That’s how knowledge grows. Nobody (not even gov’ts) knows everything. Brian Arthur, Steven N. Durlauf, and David A. Lane describe seven features (like dispersed interaction, no global controller, and ongoing adaptation) of complex systems that deserve greater attention in economics (and possible in other social systems).  Principle seven and principle four are linked together because without justice you don’t have a high civilization.

Principle eight is about learning from elders and ancestors past mistakes and even their successes. That way you don’t learn them anew. The tried and true so to speak.

Change can be bad because of principle three. Also, change can be bad because people don’t foresee what economists call “externalities.” Externalities, or stage two thinking, are events that happen later on in time when a change is made unknown to the changer usually the ruling class. On this principle, it is best to follow the loving resistance fighter principles: “be at least, suspicious of the idea of progress, and who do not confuse information with understanding” and “admire technological ingenuity but do not think it represents the highest possible form of human achievement.” Quiet a few of the other resistance fighter principles are conservative principles.

Reagan conservative believes in most if not all of these principles. For example, Reagan believed in the Founders wisdom and vision (principle 8). In his book, America the Strong: Conservative Ideas to Spark the Next Generation (2015), William J. Bennett defined a conservative as FLINT (Free enterprise, Limited government, Individual liberty, National defense, and Traditional values). These are basically the same principles above. Free enterprise is basically the 5th principle.

The Founders basically followed the above principles.

For example here is John Adams who Russell Kirk calls a conservative in Adams own words:

• We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.
• The dignity and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the people, and every blessing of society depend so much upon an upright and skillful administration of justice, that the judicial power ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive, and independent upon both, that so it may be a check upon both, and both should be checks upon that. [Principle 2]
• Mankind pay no Attention to Reason— They are led blindfold by Names, and Signs. [Principle 3]
• [A]ll are subject by nature to equal laws of morality, and in society have a right to equal laws for their government, yet no two men are perfectly equal in person, property, understanding, activity, and virtue, or ever can be made so by any power less than that which created them . . . [Principle 4]
• Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. [This is obviously principle 5]
• To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do. [Principle 6]
• We hold that each man is the best judge of his own interest. [Principle 7]
• Without wishing to damp the ardor of curiosity or influence the freedom of inquiry, I will hazard a prediction that, after the most industrious and impartial researchers, the longest liver of you all will find no principles, institutions or systems of education more fit in general to be transmitted to your posterity than those you have received from your ancestors. [Principle 8]

Then there is Thomas Jefferson:

• God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have removed their only firm basis: a conviction inthe minds of men that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my countrywhen I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever. [Principle 1]
• The concentrating [of powers] in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. [Principle 2]
• Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves. [Principle 3]
• The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management. [Principle 5]
• Who then can so softly bind up the wound of another as he who has felt the same wound himself.  [Principle 6]
• A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement. [Principle 7]
• History by apprising [citizens] of the past will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views. [Principle 8]

Here is what George Washington said:

• Of all the dispositions and habits which least to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indespensible supports. It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. [Principle 1]
• Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. [Principle 2]
• We must take human nature as we find it, perfection falls not to the share of mortals. [Principle 3]
• The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whetherAmericans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; [Principle 5]
• Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of every one, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse; remembering always the estimation of the widow's mite, but, that it is not every one who asketh that deserveth charity; all, however, are worthy of the inquiry, or the deserving may suffer. [Principle 6]
• At this auspicious period, the United States came into existence as a Nation; and if their Citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will be entirely their own. [Principle 7]
• Personal library of George Washington. [Principle 8]
• Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind! [Principle 9]

And finally inventor and scientist Benjamin Franklin:

• The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth:'that God governs in the affairs of men.' And if a sparrow cannot fall tothe ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
• In reality there is perhaps no one of our natural Passions so hard to subdue as Pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will now and then peek out and show itself. [Principle 3]
• All the property that is necessary to a Man, for the Conservation of the Individual and the Propagation of the Species, is his natural Right, which none can justly deprive him of: [Principle 5]
• Franklin brought together a group of 30 men in 1736 to form the Union Fire Company to prevent massive fires in Philadelphia. [Principle 6]
• ... as all history informs us, there has been in every State & Kingdom a constant kind of warfare between the governing & governed:… [Principle 8]
• [I]t is a common ... as all history informs us, there has been in every State & Kingdom a constant kind of warfare between the governing & governed observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own. [Principle 9]

This is just a sampling of the Founding Fathers. If I would have done all the Founding Fathers even the one who signed the Declaration that would be a book itself.

 

*He also said this about the Left: “A liberal is only a bundle of prejudices until he has mastered, has understood, experienced the philosophy of Conservatism.”