College of Political Knowledge

There have reports, articles even books that have said that conservatism is dead.  And then there has been a wealth of articles, reports and books that have disputed the claim.  Especially, in the last couple of elections, it does seem that there are NO real conservatives left……but to answer the question….NO conservatism is not dead….but it is on life support and the far Right has their hands on the plug.

The tactics of conservatism vary widely by place and time. But the most central feature of conservatism is deference: a psychologically internalized attitude on the part of the common people that the aristocracy are better people than they are. Modern-day liberals often theorize that conservatives use “social issues” as a way to mask economic objectives, but this is almost backward: the true goal of conservatism is to establish an aristocracy, which is a social and psychological condition of inequality. Economic inequality and regressive taxation, while certainly welcomed by the aristocracy, are best understood as a means to their actual goal, which is simply to be aristocrats. More generally, it is crucial to conservatism that the people must literally love the order that dominates them. Of course this notion sounds bizarre to modern ears, but it is perfectly overt in the writings of leading conservative theorists such as Burke. Democracy, for them, is not about the mechanisms of voting and office-holding. In fact conservatives hold a wide variety of opinions about such secondary formal matters. For conservatives, rather, democracy is a psychological condition. People who believe that the aristocracy rightfully dominates society because of its intrinsic superiority are conservatives; democrats, by contrast, believe that they are of equal social worth. Conservatism is the antithesis of democracy.

The sine qua non of a conservative is someone who rises above his personal self-interest and promotes moral and economic values beneficial to all. Alternatively, a conservative is willing to learn and advocate the insights of economics and the morality of the Bible for the benefit of all, recognizing that the Bible is the most logical book ever written. Specifically, conservatives seek or support:

• Limited government and balanced budgets
• Capitalism and free markets
• Classroom prayer
• Prohibition of abortion and respect for human life
• Abstinence education
• Traditional marriage, not same-sex marriage
• Respect for differences between men and women, boys and girls
• Laws against pornography
• The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms
• Economic allocative efficiency (as opposed to popular equity)
• The death penalty
• Parental control of education (parental rights)
• Private medical care and retirement plans
• Canceling failed social support programs
• No world government
• Enforcement of current laws regarding immigration
• Respect for our military … past and present
• Rejection of junk science such as evolution and global warming
• Minimal Taxation
• Federalism (Separation of powers among the National, State and Local governments)
• Favoring states’ rights over federal power, while accepting the Constitutional role of the federal government
• A strong national defense
• An Originalist interpretation of the Constitution

Does any of this sound familiar?  Personally, it is not dead or dying….it is trying to re-define itself and that could lead to a break among the members of the party….but the aristocratic thinking of the conservative will remain.

Steven Haywood has an excellent point……

It might seem that the long-standing conservative project to shrink the New Deal welfare state by starving it of tax revenue, reigning in entitlements, and limiting its reach into the lives of American families and businesses – begun in the Reagan years and continued fitfully through the first and second Bush presidencies – might be ready to recommence. And perhaps, this time, with help from the fervour of the Tea Party, conservatives may even finish the job.

For those willing to probe a bit deeper, however, it should quickly become apparent that we badly need to take stock of our position. Conservatism, despite these impressive electoral victories, is failing on its own terms. Start with the social indicators, which are the most important to conservatives. The US’ fast-growing and largely minority underclass shows limited signs of progress or assimilation to middle-class American life. And the white middle class – the bed-rock of conservatism’s political strength and social vision – is showing signs of social stagnation and economic regress that should be sounding ominous claxons in conservative meeting halls but, so far, have attracted only the attention of Charles Murray. Stagnant income growth and mobility and a shrinking middle class are considered unhealthy by most conservative understandings of social health, cohesion and well-being. While conservatives have plenty of macro ideas for increasing economic growth, they have fewer ideas about how to secure a wider distribution of new wealth.

While conservs may see the need to re-think their positions….none have the cajones to admit it out loud….after all there are elections to be won…….so, NO conservatism is not dead, but it is walking with a limp……