FIRE - SIDE CHAT NUMBER ONE
There is a conception among young American liberals that conservative (Republican) political philosophy is simply the primitive noise that comes out of the mouths of the "lumpenproletariat" at Donald Trump's, MAGA rallies; ...that American, political conservatism is a coarse thing of: "pussy-grabbing"; "bad hombres"; "shit-hole countries" and tacit White Nationalism.
Though If we peel back the superficial layers of any of the great conservative administrations in the modern era: Benjamin Disraeli and Margaret Thatcher in Britain; Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump in America, and so on, we find there are a relatively stable set of core beliefs and values that define Western political conservatism. I mean that Donald Trump, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, for instance, were very different personalities and they had different styles of leadership, but ALL of them embraced the core conservative principles to which I am referring. These are the fundamental ideas that make conservatism "tick;" and in these fire-side chats I am going to discuss the most important ones with you.
EDMUND BURKE - THE GREAT FATHER OF POLITICAL CONSERVATISM
Our guide for this intellectual (and existential) adventure will be none other than the great "Father of Conservatism", himself, Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797). Being a young American liberal, I doubt you have ever heard of him, Taichiliberal, but his ghost is riding high on the shoulders of Donald Trump as we speak. Burke has been acknowledged by ALL of the West's pre-eminent scholars of political philosophy for over (120 years) as the unquestioned founder of political conservatism ( and when I say all, I mean ALL) Many of today's Congressional Republicans - in particularly the more experienced and well-read members - Ted Cruz is a good example, Ted Kennedy, another - are well-acquainted with Edmund Burke's political letters, essays and speeches.
Burke was an unorthodox genius. He is known as the ,"grave-digger of the Enlightenment", as he was skeptical of the Enlightenment Era belief that unaided human reason (by itself) had the potential to develop good systems of government. He was not an anti - rationalist, though, and his writing makes this very clear. In fact, Edmund Burke, was one of the very greatest masters of the English language ever to have lived - so say Samuel Taylor Coleridge and T.S. Eliot. Whenever I read through Burke's essay's and letters, I rediscover passages of his prose that are so spiritually beautiful I am utterly bedazzled and stunned.
LET'S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING (A VERY PLACE TO START)
Have you ever considered, Taichiliberal, the fact that we (you, I, everyone) are all "THROWN" (or rather "spat out") into this world at birth. The CONCRETE sphere of the moral life and activity of an individual is given to him or her by the human circumstance into which s/he is born; it is created by the mysterious process of nature. This individual's - (i.e. me, you, Donald Trump, Tomy Lahren, Tampon Tim, Joy Reid, "Cry-Baby Kinsinger", AOC and all the rest) - place in the order of human lives is in no way arbitrary or accidental. Rather, it is a PURPOSEFUL dispensation of the SUPREME RULER who sustains the created order. Right, Taichiliberal ? THINK ABOUT IT FOR A MINUTE, DUDE.
For Burke, the "Supreme Ruler" was God (the Biblical one). He what he, himself, says....
"Dark and inscrutable are the ways by which we come into this world. The instincts which give rise to this mysterious process of nature ARE NOT OF OUR MAKING. But out of physical causes inknown to us, perhaps unknowable, arise MORAL DUTIES (OBLIGATIONS), which as we are alble perfectly to comprehend, we are bound indispensibly to perform."
I put it to you, Taichiliberal, that this passage is perfectly reasonable. You don't know how you came into the world - when and where you did - it is a miracle. Right Taichi ? And you also know from your own experience that there are MORAL behaviours. That is, behaviours that are (morally) RIGHT and that you should (MUST) do, and behaviours that are (morally) WRONG that you ought (MUST) not do. Right, Taichiliberal ? You are a NORMAL young man. You are not a nut-job, not a severe, major psychiatric case of any kind, not an adult who has pronounced/profound mental retardation ( like Down's Syndrome) you are capable of normal reasoning/logical thinking. Given this, you know RIGHT from WRONG.If you had an AR - 15 rifle and ammunition stored in your bedroom, deciding that you are going to load up this rifle and then go out into a crowded public place and shoot as many random people as you can for fun is (morally) WRONG. On the other hand, charitable behaviour like your helping little, old ladies across a dangerous road in your town centre is a (morally) RIGHT thing to do and YOU KNOW this.
So far, Taichiliberal, I am trusting that everything I've mentioned should be quite straightforward and perfectly reasonable. I admit that I have thrown in a "Supreme Ruler" - (a supernatural entity) - who created and ruled the universe. I guess you may object to that if you don't believe in the existence of (Burke's) Christian God. But when I sat down and thought for 30 mins about where I came from (as a newborn Dachshund - and I don't mean out of my mother's womb/birth canal); rather, how did I come exist from out of the boundless, infinite universe - the HOW question was a completely, impenetrable mystery. BECAUSE, I mean, IT DID HAPPEN - and it DID HAPPEN in your case as well, and it DID HAPPEN 330,000,000 times in America to date. Right? Do you get what I'm saying when I tell you I find it all kind of SPOOKY.
OK, I'VE PUT DOWN A CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIOM THAT WILL ENABLE ME TO TO DISCUSS THE CORE CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLES YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW/UNDERSTAND IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAS DRIVEN CONSERVATISM IN THE MODERN ERA (i.e the past 250 years to date).
Kindest Regards
Dachshund Dawg
Dachshund the Loyal TRUMPER Hound !!