I’m rather conservative in my political views. At least that’s how I see myself. But I’m frustrated using that term because it seems to me that so many groups have pre-empted it that it means little in practice. Everyone from the Libertarians to the Neo-Cons is using the term conservative, so there are few principles that it embodies anymore.
On the other hand, it wasn’t much more than a century ago, I guess, that the term liberal meant something quite different as well. I’m not really sure exactly what it stood for, in this country or in England, but I find it interesting that the term “liberal arts”, so derided by later technocrats, meant the fields of history, communication (language, literature, composition, rhetoric, etc.), political theory, law and the like that were considered necessary grounding for life in a free society. Of course, these are the very disciplines that are much neglected today, a dangerous situation.
My point here is that it’s common for conservatives in the U.S. to take a rather arrogant, holier-than-thou outlook, while not even bothering to define what the “conservative” position stands for. For that reason, I want to set out some basic characteristics for how a true conservative thinks about things and so approaches the formulation of policy. In my view, a conservative is by nature:
Gradualist Perhaps most importantly, a conservative strongly prefers gradual change. Now most folks see this meaning that conservatives oppose change, but this is an unrealistic position. We must recognize that change is often inevitable, but that it is best for the effects of change to be gradual enough so that it can be managed. When change is gradual, a great deal of its negative effects can be mitigated, if there is sufficient leadership to do so.
When we try to deny that change is coming, it’s like building a dam that will eventually burst, with catastrophic results. It’s better to let the water out bit by bit, which means we establish a pace of change that can be sustained, rather than try to avoid it.
Of course, the most obvious place where gradualism applies today is in our policy toward China. China is changing with breathtaking speed, even by Western standards. Nevertheless, there still seems to be a lot of folks who are strangely dissatisfied. Of course, I’m aware that there are many problems remaining, but when you consider the church growth in China, the economic liberalization, and many other rapid changes, what’s happening there is certain to be one of the great historic events of our time.
Conservatives are by nature prudent, understanding that sudden change is usually dangerous. As a concrete example, many folks have been pressuring China to revalue its currency by at least 15%. It probably should be adjusted that much or more, eventually. Recently, though, they finally made a smaller revaluation, about 2%. It needs to do more, but if China had moved by the entire 15% all at once, it might destroy the thriving dollar store business in the U.S. (not to mention the 100¥ stores in Japan). This wouldn’t help either them or us.
Thrifty The very term conservative implies thrift, i.e. that valuable resources need to be conserved. The practical abandonment of this outlook is perhaps the biggest failure of the “conservative” movement in the U.S. today. The U.S. has always been a wasteful country, in many ways, but in the last 25 years things have really gotten out of hand.
Thrift implies many things, including a desire to moderate taxes and regulations, whenever possible, and eliminate obsolete or redundant programs and bureaucracy. Thrift is likewise characterized by a future-orientation, a willingness to make short-term sacrifices in order to secure a better future. I will have more to write on the subject of thrift (and its decline in American culture) later.
Reverent Washington, D.C., from what I can tell, has developed something of an irreverent culture, and this is causing some real problems nowadays. I don’t mean by this that people there are any worse than the rest of us Americans, but it’s dangerous when we start equating a desire to be/do good and right with simplistic naivete.
Reverence implies a respect for all parties. The U.S. is still the biggest power in the world, both economically (for at least a little while longer) and militarily, and it’s important, for ours and the rest of the world’s sake, that we be a good and righteous people. Of course, it’s difficult to agree on anything since we’ve lost a common value system, but we must make the effort to think through things in these terms, and avoid neglecting legitimate interests of other parties, such as the recent National Security Strategy seems to do.
Distrusting A conservative knows that power is potentially corrupting, and that it is essential that a balance of powers be maintained. I do think this is why Bush won re-election, because a lot of folks think the judicial branch of the federal government really is out of control. I suspect the recent Kelo v. New London ruling has opened the eyes of a lot more moderates as well.
Conservatives are distrustful of grandiose plans and of the consolidation of power. The U.S. has a long history, back to Washington’s presidency, of granting extra powers to the federal government during a crisis, but then revoking these later, which is why a sunset provision should be part of any broad grant of powers such as the Patriot Act.
Conservatives instinctively prefer a local or private solution where it makes sense. Nevertheless, a practical balance must be struck, and much of the history of U.S. domestic policy has revolved around this concern.
Humble Finally, a true conservative is humble. Conservatives realize that real life is complex, and that idealism generally must yield to practical compromises in order to get anything done. Humility implies that no one has all the answers and so listening is a key part of reaching a solution to any problem.
Humility also dictates a recognition that we need one another, and likewise we need, both individually and as a society, the blessings of God. A true conservative is actively involved in making the world a better place and is under authority themselves. A guy out in a shack in the wilderness with his own little paramilitary outfit may be an anarchist, but he’s not a conservative.
While conservatives generally do want the civil government to leave them alone, they carry a sense of duty that keeps them active and involved in a purpose larger than themselves. True conservatives are pro-active in building something for the future that will make the world a better place.
