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Post by Maolsheachlann on Feb 20, 2020 15:16:00 GMT
People sometimes comment on the futility of conservatism, or the fact that conservatives have lost battle after battle after battle in recent times.
What interests me is that this is often used as a criticism, as though it rendered conservatism meaningless.
Is there some kind of moral duty to be on the winning side? Or to even have a chance of winning?
I'm a conservative to my back teeth. Even if I was the last conservative on earth, I would still be a conservative. It's not a political action plan or strategy. It's spiritual, aesthetic, temperamental, psychological, and whatever else you want to throw into the mix.
For the foreseeable future, I expect conservatives to go on losing battle after battle after battle-- with, perhaps, some triumphs along the way.
I really have no idea when (or even if) the progressive tide is going to turn.
I have a suspicion that human beings will return to the land, to villages, to community, to life-long marriage, tradition, etc. etc. eventually. I may be wrong.
But I see no shame or futility in being a conservative when conservatism is the losing side. To me it's as much a matter of remaining sane, remaining human, as anything else.
Besides, everything can't be "big picture". Even when a society is progressive, there are still islands of conservatism. It's not all-or-nothing.
(I know "conservatism" can be defined a million ways. I'm talking in the broadest terms here.)
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Post by optatuscleary on Feb 20, 2020 17:47:24 GMT
“ Actually I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect 'history' to be anything but a 'long defeat' - though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory.“ -J.R.R. Tolkien
It almost seems cliche to post this, but it has helped me to conceptualize history. I have no doubt that the progressives will be triumphant for as long as I live.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Feb 20, 2020 18:02:16 GMT
Not all conservatives are Christians, but I think this applies to conservatives to some extent as well. And certainly to those of us who are Christians. From G.K. Chesterton's "Ballad of the White Horse". King Alfred (disguised as a minstrel) is replying to the Danes who mock him for supporting a lost cause:
On you is fallen the shadow,
And not upon the Name;
That though we scatter and though we fly,
And you hang over us like the sky,
You are more tired of victory,
Than we are tired of shame.
That though you hunt the Christian man
Like a hare on the hill-side,
The hare has still more heart to run
Than you have heart to ride.
That though all lances split on you,
All swords be heaved in vain,
We have more lust again to lose
Than you to win again.
Your lord sits high in the saddle,
A broken-hearted king,
But our king Alfred, lost from fame,
Fallen among foes or bonds of shame,
In I know not what mean trade or name,
Has still some song to sing.
Our monks go robed in rain and snow,
But the heart of flame therein,
But you go clothed in feasts and flames,
When all is ice within;
Nor shall all iron dooms make dumb
Men wandering ceaselessly,
If it be not better to fast for joy
Than feast for misery.
Nor monkish order only
Slides down, as field to fen,
All things achieved and chosen pass,
As the White Horse fades in the grass,
No work of Christian men.
Ere the sad gods that made your gods
Saw their sad sunrise pass,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale,
That you have left to darken and fail,
Was cut out of the grass.
Therefore your end is on you,
Is on you and your kings,
Not for a fire in Ely fen,
Not that your gods are nine or ten,
But because it is only Christian men
Guard even heathen things.
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Post by cato on Feb 21, 2020 12:06:36 GMT
People sometimes comment on the futility of conservatism, or the fact that conservatives have lost battle after battle after battle in recent times. What interests me is that this is often used as a criticism, as though it rendered conservatism meaningless. Is there some kind of moral duty to be on the winning side? Or to even have a chance of winning? I'm a conservative to my back teeth. Even if I was the last conservative on earth, I would still be a conservative. It's not a political action plan or strategy. It's spiritual, aesthetic, temperamental, psychological, and whatever else you want to throw into the mix. For the foreseeable future, I expect conservatives to go on losing battle after battle after battle-- with, perhaps, some triumphs along the way. I really have no idea when (or even if) the progressive tide is going to turn. I have a suspicion that human beings will return to the land, to villages, to community, to life-long marriage, tradition, etc. etc. eventually. I may be wrong. But I see no shame or futility in being a conservative when conservatism is the losing side. To me it's as much a matter of remaining sane, remaining human, as anything else. Besides, everything can't be "big picture". Even when a society is progressive, there are still islands of conservatism. It's not all-or-nothing. (I know "conservatism" can be defined a million ways. I'm talking in thce broadest terms here.) Very well put Maolsheachlann. I think Conservatives broadly have a role in speaking and defending truth. There are fundamental truths about humanity , our communities and the divine that help us flourish and that we ignore at our peril. The post modern world stands directly opposed to the notion of objective truth and reality. Conservatives are in some ways the modern version of the Greek mythological figure Cassandra. Cassandra had the divine gift of telling the truth no matter how unpalatable that was. Unfortunately no one would ever believe her so she gained an undeserved reputation as a naysayer too! |
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