The Pillars of Modern American Conservatism

[SkyBubble]

The first pillar of conservatism is liberty, or freedom. Conservatives believe that individuals possess the right to life, liberty, and property, and freedom from the restrictions of arbitrary force. They exercise these rights through the use of their natural free will. That means the ability to follow your own dreams, to do what you want to (so long as you don’t harm others) and reap the rewards (or face the penalties). Above all, it means freedom from oppression by government—and the protection of government against oppression. It means political liberty, the freedom to speak your mind on matters of public policy. It means religious liberty—to worship as you please, or not to worship at all. It also means economic liberty, the freedom to own property and to allocate your own resources in a free market.

Conservatism is based on the idea that the pursuit of virtue is the purpose of our existence and that liberty is an essential component of the pursuit of virtue. Adherence to virtue is also a necessary condition of the pursuit of freedom. In other words, freedom must be pursued for the common good, and when it is abused for the benefit of one group at the expense of others, such abuse must be checked. Still, confronted with a choice of more security or more liberty, conservatives will usually opt for more liberty.

The second pillar of conservative philosophy is tradition and order. Conservatism is also about conserving the values that have been established over centuries and that have led to an orderly society. Conservatives believe in human nature; they believe in the ability of man to build a society that respects rights and that has the capacity to repel the forces of evil. Order means a systematic and harmonious arrangement, both within one’s own character and within the commonwealth. It signifies the performance of certain duties and the enjoyment of certain rights within a community.

Order is perhaps more easily understood by looking at its opposite: disorder. A disordered existence is a confused and miserable existence. If a society falls into general disorder, many of its members will cease to exist at all. And if the members of a society are disordered in spirit, the outward order of society cannot long endure. Disorder describes well everything that conservatism is not.

The third pillar is the rule of law. Conservatism is based on the belief that it is crucial to have a legal system that is predictable, that allows people to know what the rules are and enforce those rules equally for all. This means that both governors and the governed are subject to the law. The rule of law promotes prosperity and protects liberty. Put simply, a government of laws and not of men is the only way to secure justice.

The fourth pillar is belief in God. Belief in God means adherence to the broad concepts of religious faith—such things as justice, virtue, fairness, charity, community, and duty. These are the concepts on which conservatives base their philosophy.

Conservative belief is tethered to the idea that there is an allegiance to God that transcends politics and that sets a standard for politics. For conservatives, there must be an authority greater than man, greater than any ruler, king, or government: no state can demand our absolute obedience or attempt to control every aspect of our lives. There must be a moral order, conservatives believe, that undergirds political order. This pillar of conservatism does not mean mixing up faith and politics, and it certainly does not mean settling religious disputes politically. It also does not mean that conservatives have a monopoly on faith, or even that all conservatives are necessarily believers.

 

[DeluxAuto]

The first pillar of conservatism is liberty, or freedom. Conservatives believe that individuals possess the right to life, liberty, and property, and freedom from the restrictions of arbitrary force. They exercise these rights through the use of their natural free will. That means the ability to follow your own dreams, to do what you want to (so long as you don’t harm others) and reap the rewards (or face the penalties). Above all, it means freedom from oppression by government—and the protection of government against oppression. It means political liberty, the freedom to speak your mind on matters of public policy. It means religious liberty—to worship as you please, or not to worship at all. It also means economic liberty, the freedom to own property and to allocate your own resources in a free market.

Conservatism is based on the idea that the pursuit of virtue is the purpose of our existence and that liberty is an essential component of the pursuit of virtue. Adherence to virtue is also a necessary condition of the pursuit of freedom. In other words, freedom must be pursued for the common good, and when it is abused for the benefit of one group at the expense of others, such abuse must be checked. Still, confronted with a choice of more security or more liberty, conservatives will usually opt for more liberty.

The second pillar of conservative philosophy is tradition and order. Conservatism is also about conserving the values that have been established over centuries and that have led to an orderly society. Conservatives believe in human nature; they believe in the ability of man to build a society that respects rights and that has the capacity to repel the forces of evil. Order means a systematic and harmonious arrangement, both within one’s own character and within the commonwealth. It signifies the performance of certain duties and the enjoyment of certain rights within a community.

Order is perhaps more easily understood by looking at its opposite: disorder. A disordered existence is a confused and miserable existence. If a society falls into general disorder, many of its members will cease to exist at all. And if the members of a society are disordered in spirit, the outward order of society cannot long endure. Disorder describes well everything that conservatism is not.

The third pillar is the rule of law. Conservatism is based on the belief that it is crucial to have a legal system that is predictable, that allows people to know what the rules are and enforce those rules equally for all. This means that both governors and the governed are subject to the law. The rule of law promotes prosperity and protects liberty. Put simply, a government of laws and not of men is the only way to secure justice.

The fourth pillar is belief in God. Belief in God means adherence to the broad concepts of religious faith—such things as justice, virtue, fairness, charity, community, and duty. These are the concepts on which conservatives base their philosophy.

Conservative belief is tethered to the idea that there is an allegiance to God that transcends politics and that sets a standard for politics. For conservatives, there must be an authority greater than man, greater than any ruler, king, or government: no state can demand our absolute obedience or attempt to control every aspect of our lives. There must be a moral order, conservatives believe, that undergirds political order. This pillar of conservatism does not mean mixing up faith and politics, and it certainly does not mean settling religious disputes politically. It also does not mean that conservatives have monopoly on faith, or even that all conservatives are necessarily believers.

Which of these "pillars" best embodies the current administration?

 

[stxjimmy]

Which of these "pillars" best embodies the current administration?

And then came along Samson

 

[SkyBubble]

Which of these "pillars" best embodies the current administration?

The administration is not conservative.

 

[DeluxAuto]

The first pillar of conservatism is liberty, or freedom. Conservatives believe that individuals possess the right to life, liberty, and property, and freedom from the restrictions of arbitrary force. They exercise these rights through the use of their natural free will. That means the ability to follow your own dreams, to do what you want to (so long as you don’t harm others) and reap the rewards (or face the penalties). Above all, it means freedom from oppression by government—and the protection of government against oppression. It means political liberty, the freedom to speak your mind on matters of public policy. It means religious liberty—to worship as you please, or not to worship at all. It also means economic liberty, the freedom to own property and to allocate your own resources in a free market.

Conservatism is based on the idea that the pursuit of virtue is the purpose of our existence and that liberty is an essential component of the pursuit of virtue. Adherence to virtue is also a necessary condition of the pursuit of freedom. In other words, freedom must be pursued for the common good, and when it is abused for the benefit of one group at the expense of others, such abuse must be checked. Still, confronted with a choice of more security or more liberty, conservatives will usually opt for more liberty.

The second pillar of conservative philosophy is tradition and order. Conservatism is also about conserving the values that have been established over centuries and that have led to an orderly society. Conservatives believe in human nature; they believe in the ability of man to build a society that respects rights and that has the capacity to repel the forces of evil. Order means a systematic and harmonious arrangement, both within one’s own character and within the commonwealth. It signifies the performance of certain duties and the enjoyment of certain rights within a community.

Order is perhaps more easily understood by looking at its opposite: disorder. A disordered existence is a confused and miserable existence. If a society falls into general disorder, many of its members will cease to exist at all. And if the members of a society are disordered in spirit, the outward order of society cannot long endure. Disorder describes well everything that conservatism is not.

The third pillar is the rule of law. Conservatism is based on the belief that it is crucial to have a legal system that is predictable, that allows people to know what the rules are and enforce those rules equally for all. This means that both governors and the governed are subject to the law. The rule of law promotes prosperity and protects liberty. Put simply, a government of laws and not of men is the only way to secure justice.

The fourth pillar is belief in God. Belief in God means adherence to the broad concepts of religious faith—such things as justice, virtue, fairness, charity, community, and duty. These are the concepts on which conservatives base their philosophy.

Conservative belief is tethered to the idea that there is an allegiance to God that transcends politics and that sets a standard for politics. For conservatives, there must be an authority greater than man, greater than any ruler, king, or government: no state can demand our absolute obedience or attempt to control every aspect of our lives. There must be a moral order, conservatives believe, that undergirds political order. This pillar of conservatism does not mean mixing up faith and politics, and it certainly does not mean settling religious disputes politically. It also does not mean that conservatives have monopoly on faith, or even that all conservatives are necessarily believers.

Which of these "pillars" best embod the current administration?

The administration is not conservative.

That wasn't the question, dipshit.

 

[Treeview]

Your 'pilars' are made of stage plaster

Phony and illusions

 

[SkyBubble]

Wrong. These are the principles of conservatism.

 

[SkyBubble]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1982229779148321159

A quick primer for folks who are "new" to the Conservative Movement, namely those who only discovered it after 2015..

We are for small and limited Federal control.
We are for States self determining their futures.
We are for individual liberty of citizens.
We are for full expression of ALL of our God given rights.
We exercise our Faith without excluding the Faith of others.
We believe in American exceptionalism.We believe in fiscal responsibility.

What we are NOT:

We don't hate people based off of tthe color of their skin, their nation of origin, their sexual orientation or any other thing that could separate us. We can chose to not like the individual, but we do not hate entire groups.
We do not worship Hitler and Nazis.
We do not threaten people because of their ethnicity.
We do not sacrifice who we are for the ego of another.
We do not mock the Constitution.
And we NEVER bow down.

If you can't agree to that, you are no Conservative. There is NO place for hate and racism in this nation or this party, or this movement. My family fled our home to risk coming to America for religious freedom, we then had to fight for that freedom.. and we have bled in nearly every war this nation has ever had. ANYONE who comes to this nation the correct way, and flings themselves on our shore, desperate for freedom, is one of us.

The Conservative movement IS the city on the hill, they are the light shining in the darkness, firm, resolute, and fair.

If you have had enough of the games, of the theatrics, of the hate.. if you want to know what it means to be a "Conservative American".. then we welcome you. Jew, Black, Latino, Catholic, Baptist.. AMERICAN.Thank you

 

[Wilson23]

Conservative British journalists John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge write in The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America:

The exceptionalism of the American Right is partly a matter of its beliefs. The first two definitions of "conservative" offered by the Concise Oxford Dictionary are "adverse to rapid change" and "moderate, avoiding extremes." Neither of these seems a particularly good description of what is going on in America at the moment. "Conservatism" -- no less than its foes "liberalism" or "communitarianism" -- has become one of those words that are now as imprecise as they are emotionally charged. Open a newspaper and you can find the word used to describe Jacques Chirac, Trent Lott, the Mullah Omar and Vladimir Putin. Since time immemorial, conservatives have insisted that their deeply pragmatic creed cannot be ideologically pigeonholed.

But, in philosophical terms at least, classical conservatism does mean something. The creed of Edmund Burke, its most eloquent proponent, might be crudely reduced to six principles: a deep suspicion of the power of the state; a preference for liberty over equality; patriotism; a belief in established institutions and hierarchies; skepticism about the idea of progress; and elitism. Winston Churchill happily accepted these principles: he was devoted to nation and empire, disinclined to trust the lower orders with anything, hostile to the welfare state, worried about the diminution of liberty and, as he once remarked ruefully, "preferred the past to the present and the present to the future."

To simplify a little, the exceptionalism of modern American conservatism lies in its exaggeration of the first three of Burke's principles and contradiction of the last three. The American Right exhibits a far deeper hostility towards the state than any other modern conservative party. . . . The American right is also more obsessed with personal liberty than any other conservative party, and prepared to tolerate an infinitely higher level of inequality. (One reason why Burke warmed to the American revolutionaries was that, unlike their dangerous French equivalents, the gentlemen rebels concentrated on freedom, not equality.) On patriotism, nobody can deny that conservatives everywhere tend to be a fairly nationalistic bunch. . . . Yet many European conservatives have accepted the idea that their nationality should be diluted in "schemes and speculations" like the European Union, and they are increasingly reconciled to dealing with national security on a multilateral basis. American conservatives clearly are not.

If the American Right was merely a more vigorous form of conservatism, then it would be a lot more predictable. In fact, the American Right takes a resolutely liberal approach to Burke's last three principles: hierarchy, pessimism and elitism. The heroes of modern American conservatism are not paternalist squires but rugged individualists who don't know their place: entrepeneurs who build mighty businesses out of nothing, settlers who move out West, and, of course, the cowboy. There is a frontier spirit to the Right -- unsurprisingly, since so much of its heartland is made up of new towns of one sort of another.

The geography of conservatism also helps to explain its optimism rather than pessimism. In the war between the Dynamo and the Virgin, as Henry Adams characterized the battle between progress and tradition, most American conservatives are on the side of the Dynamo. They think that the world offers all sorts of wonderful possibilities. And they feel that the only thing that is preventing people from attaining these possibilities is the dead liberal hand of the past. By contrast, Burke has been described flatteringly by European conservatives as a "prophet of the past." Spend any time with a group of Republicans, and their enthusiasm for the future can be positively exhausting.

As for elitism, rather than dreaming about creating an educated "clerisy" of clever rulers (as Coleridge and T.S. Eliot did), the Republicans ever since the 1960s have played the populist card. Richard Nixon saw himself as the champion of the "silent majority." In 1988 the aristocratic George H.W. Bush presented himself as a defender of all-American values against the Harvard Yard liberalism of Michael Dukakis. In 2000, George W. Bush, a president's son who was educated at Andover, Yale and Harvard Business School, played up his role as a down-to-earth Texan taking on the might of Washington. As a result, modern American conservatism has flourished not just in country clubs and boardrooms, but at the grass roots -- on talk radio and at precinct meetings, and in revolts against high taxes, the regulation of firearms and other invidious attempts by liberal do-gooders to force honest Americans into some predetermined mold.

 

[Wilson23]

The fourth pillar is belief in God. Belief in God means adherence to the broad concepts of religious faith—such things as justice, virtue, fairness, charity, community, and duty. These are the concepts on which conservatives base their philosophy.

Those are not religious concepts. They're Classical Greek, pre-Christian.

 

[Chernosoth]

OP describes one specific type or range of conservative. There are more conservatives outside that range, living their lives of conserving whatever they find worth the effort.

 

[PaxNurgle]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1982229779148321159

A quick primer for folks who are "new" to the Conservative Movement, namely those who only discovered it after 2015..

We are for small and limited Federal control.
We are for States self determining their futures.
We are for individual liberty of citizens.
We are for full expression of ALL of our God given rights.
We exercise our Faith without excluding the Faith of others.
We believe in American exceptionalism.We believe in fiscal responsibility.

What we are NOT:

We don't hate people based off of tthe color of their skin, their nation of origin, their sexual orientation or any other thing that could separate us. We can chose to not like the individual, but we do not hate entire groups.
We do not worship Hitler and Nazis.
We do not threaten people because of their ethnicity.
We do not sacrifice who we are for the ego of another.
We do not mock the Constitution.
And we NEVER bow down.

If you can't agree to that, you are no Conservative. There is NO place for hate and racism in this nation or this party, or this movement. My family fled our home to risk coming to America for religious freedom, we then had to fight for that freedom.. and we have bled in nearly every war this nation has ever had. ANYONE who comes to this nation the correct way, and flings themselves on our shore, desperate for freedom, is one of us.

The Conservative movement IS the city on the hill, they are the light shining in the darkness, firm, resolute, and fair.

If you have had enough of the games, of the theatrics, of the hate.. if you want to know what it means to be a "Conservative American".. then we welcome you. Jew, Black, Latino, Catholic, Baptist.. AMERICAN.Thank you

Actually, this is a pretty good post.

Because the Trump administration certainly does NOT embody these values at all, neither do those who claim to support him on this forum.

This was the type of conservatism I was raised on, and which I believed in. And this is why I utterly REJECT Trump as being neither conservative, nor liberal, but beliving in a system that is completely alien to the American system- one of absolutism, divisiveness, anti-liberty, mockery of the Constitution, and totalitarianism.

 

[Wilson23]

We do not sacrifice who we are for the ego of another.

That's a lie!

 

[Sean Renaud]

The administration is not conservative.

Even if we buy that Conservatism without failure=death. That's just how it functions.

 

[Chadrone]

Even if we buy that

You have to be batshit lunatic leftoid to not....Trump is well to the left of Bill Clinton, who wasn't a Conservative.

 

[HisArpy]

The first pillar of conservatism is liberty, or freedom. Conservatives believe that individuals possess the right to life, liberty, and property, and freedom from the restrictions of arbitrary force. They exercise these rights through the use of their natural free will. That means the ability to follow your own dreams, to do what you want to (so long as you don’t harm others) and reap the rewards (or face the penalties). Above all, it means freedom from oppression by government—and the protection of government against oppression. It means political liberty, the freedom to speak your mind on matters of public policy. It means religious liberty—to worship as you please, or not to worship at all. It also means economic liberty, the freedom to own property and to allocate your own resources in a free market.

Conservatism is based on the idea that the pursuit of virtue is the purpose of our existence and that liberty is an essential component of the pursuit of virtue. Adherence to virtue is also a necessary condition of the pursuit of freedom. In other words, freedom must be pursued for the common good, and when it is abused for the benefit of one group at the expense of others, such abuse must be checked. Still, confronted with a choice of more security or more liberty, conservatives will usually opt for more liberty.

The second pillar of conservative philosophy is tradition and order. Conservatism is also about conserving the values that have been established over centuries and that have led to an orderly society. Conservatives believe in human nature; they believe in the ability of man to build a society that respects rights and that has the capacity to repel the forces of evil. Order means a systematic and harmonious arrangement, both within one’s own character and within the commonwealth. It signifies the performance of certain duties and the enjoyment of certain rights within a community.

Order is perhaps more easily understood by looking at its opposite: disorder. A disordered existence is a confused and miserable existence. If a society falls into general disorder, many of its members will cease to exist at all. And if the members of a society are disordered in spirit, the outward order of society cannot long endure. Disorder describes well everything that conservatism is not.

The third pillar is the rule of law. Conservatism is based on the belief that it is crucial to have a legal system that is predictable, that allows people to know what the rules are and enforce those rules equally for all. This means that both governors and the governed are subject to the law. The rule of law promotes prosperity and protects liberty. Put simply, a government of laws and not of men is the only way to secure justice.

The fourth pillar is belief in God. Belief in God means adherence to the broad concepts of religious faith—such things as justice, virtue, fairness, charity, community, and duty. These are the concepts on which conservatives base their philosophy.

Conservative belief is tethered to the idea that there is an allegiance to God that transcends politics and that sets a standard for politics. For conservatives, there must be an authority greater than man, greater than any ruler, king, or government: no state can demand our absolute obedience or attempt to control every aspect of our lives. There must be a moral order, conservatives believe, that undergirds political order. This pillar of conservatism does not mean mixing up faith and politics, and it certainly does not mean settling religious disputes politically. It also does not mean that conservatives have a monopoly on faith, or even that all conservatives are necessarily believers.

Welp, 3 outta 4 is gonna have to do...

 

[Chernosoth]

Law has a cycle, a rhythm, in civilization. From anarchy and warlords, we proceed to short and plain laws that anyone can understand, like murderers hang and thieves get whippings or hands cut off. Laws become more elaborate and obscurely written, with lawyers stepping in as middlemen to argue and interpret them for us. Like the healthcare and education rackets, we eventually reach a point that we can't afford more complexity and middlemen. The steps back down to a more affordable condition of law may be turbulent as lawyers see their careers wind down or suddenly stop, while they still have student debt. And later we're in the anarchy and warlord phase, the dark age between civilizations.

 

[HisArpy]

Law has a cycle, a rhythm, in civilization. From anarchy and warlords, we proceed to short and plain laws that anyone can understand, like murderers hang and thieves get whippings or hands cut off. Laws become more elaborate and obscurely written, with lawyers stepping in as middlemen to argue and interpret them for us. Like the healthcare and education rackets, we eventually reach a point that we can't afford more complexity and middlemen. The steps back down to a more affordable condition of law may be turbulent as lawyers see their careers wind down or suddenly stop, while they still have student debt. And later we're in the anarchy and warlord phase, the dark age between civilizations.

So you're good with barbarism instead of the law binding the government against using cruelty against the people? Or are you thinking it'll only be used against people you don't like?

There's a wake up in your future. Count on it.


And then there's the complexity issue:

I had a conversation the other day with a client who was having problems with his inheritance. He didn't believe that he should split his parent's estate with his dead sister because the will said that his sister's portion goes to her "issue" rather than her husband. To him that meant he gets the entire estate.

It took a fairly long conversation to have him understand that "issue" was a legal term of art which was crafted specifically to avoid any ambiguity. It took centuries to filter that term of art down though the legal system, have it challenged and tested, then modified until it withstood all challenges as to what it meant. It means what it means, just like all legal terms of art.

That he wasn't familiar with the term doesn't mean that the definition changes. Nor does it mean that the probate court will side with him and not give his sister's kids her share.

He still didn't believe me afterward. The court will give him a wake up in another couple of months. At which point he's going to call me and whine while asking what I can do about it.

At this point I'm undecided on whether I want to answer the phone or not. Because stupid shouldn't ever be rewarded.

You're probably going to be on hold too.

 

[Wilson23]

You have to be batshit lunatic leftoid to not....Trump is well to the left of Bill Clinton, who wasn't a Conservative.

If he were, he would have vetoed that tax cut, and never spoken a word against the ACA.

No pol is leftist unless his success would threaten the wealth and power of the rich. No position in the culture war is leftist.

 

[Wilson23]

Like the healthcare and education rackets, we eventually reach a point that we can't afford more complexity and middlemen.

In education and health care, we will never reach a point where we can do without complexity and middlemen. It is the same with the law.

 

[Chadrone]

If he were, he would have vetoed that tax cut, and never spoken a word against the ACA.

I'm sure today he would be a good (D) cuck. But he was against that kinda shit back when he was POTUS and getting those inner city super predators put in cages.

No pol is leftist unless his success would threaten the wealth and power of the rich. No position in the culture war is leftist.

Wrong, you don't get to redefine what the left is.

 

[Wilson23]

Wrong, you don't get to redefine what the left is.

It has nothing to do with DEI. You can tell, because DEI is acceptable to the CEOs. They're indifferent to culture-war shit because neither side is a threat to them.

 

[Wilson23]

back when he was POTUS and getting those inner city super predators put in cages.

Trump didn't do that.

 

[Chadrone]

It has nothing to do with DEI. You can tell, because DEI is acceptable to the CEOs.

That's like saying Che Guevara was no socialist because Tshirts with his face sell well and make capitalist rich.

You're fucking retarded.

DEI is leftism.

They're indifferent to culture-war shit because neither side is a threat to them.

They aren't, they're trying to stay alive in a hostile environment.

Lots of corporate losses have gone down in the culture wars....

 

[Wilson23]

That's like saying Che Guevara was no socialist because Tshirts with his face sell well and make capitalist rich.

Guevara was a socialist because he was a threat to capitalists. That doesn't mean they can't make money off him. Publishers have made a lot off Marx' books.