[MD] Value and the Individual

[Ham Priday]

Hello Chris --

In a response to Platt you said:

> ...when the political development of Europe and the world
> is presented in an overview in the history classes, conservatism
> is presented the same way everything else is.
>
> But then, conservatism isn't a real philosophy as such,
> only a reactionary movement, and as for the politics you
> stand for - well, we know America has nutjobs, the whole
> world knows that, so, that a political agenda that was
> abandoned about a 100 years ago in most of the developed
> world is still in play... Well, no one is surprised.

I don't know where you get the idea that conservatism is a "reactionary 
movement" but, then, an "overview" of political ideologies is not the way to 
study history.  We learn history by studying human events in chronological 
order -- including the individuals, cultures, battles, and documents which 
determine how power is distributed among the nations.  George Santayana said that "those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it."  Churchill put it more succinctly: "The one thing we have learned from history is that we 
don't learn from history."

Conservatism is more than a "political agenda", as anyone who has read F.A. Hayek's "Road to Serfdom" understands.  Hayek's thesis was that central 
economic planning involves governmental control of every facet of its 
citizen's life, ultimately leading to a totalitarian state.  He concluded 
that extensive governmental control harms the society, not just economically 
but by producing a psychological change in the character of the citizenry.

Conservative is not even an American term.  It was introduced in the early 
19th century to characterize the new Bourbon monarchy in France, the British 
Tory Party, and by John Calhoun who defended states' rights in the U.S.  The 
Encyclopedia Britannica says this about Conservatism:

"Conservatism is a preference for the historically inherited rather than the 
the abstract and ideal.  Conservatives prefer institutions and practices 
that have evolved gradually and are manifestations of continuity and 
stability.  In answer to the question "What should be the scope of 
government?" conservatives insist that government must be the servant, 
not the master, of existing ways of life and must resist the temptation to 
transform society and politics.  Conservatives are generally, though not 
invariably, suspicious of government activism.  Conservatism thus stands 
in marked contrast to liberalism, which is a modernizing, antitraditionalist 
movement dedicated to correcting the evils and abuses resulting from the 
misuse of power.

"A common way of distinguishing conservatism from both liberalism and 
radicalism is to say that conservatives deny the perfectibility of humanity. 
In other words, they deny the optimistic view that human beings can be 
morally improved through social and political change."

Do you see anything "reactionary" about this?

--Ham