Much has changed since I last wrote for this fine project. I hope you are all well and ready to delve into conservatism. My own biases against this movement and what it has become are well known, and this piece is not objective. Just a series of observations about how this side of politics acts. Enjoy
Before the last election, people used to ask ‘who is Anthony Albanese’. I have a better question: why is conservatism? What is the purpose of a group of wealthy, out-of-touch elitists who insist on their right to tell others what to do? Why are they still here? I want to look at an historical definition of the movement and use it to explain the existence of this frankly regressive ideology.
Defining the Movement: William F Buckley
In the 1950s, American William F Buckley said this about the conservative movement:
We will stand athwart history yelling stop.
There is so much contained in this delicious statement. First is the open acknowledgment that history, however slowly and however many twists, turns and roadblocks exist along the way, ultimately moves toward progress. The inexorable march of history toward improvement, progress and broadening the protections once reserved for the few, Buckley acknowledges.
The second part of the statement outlines the role of conservatives in this inexorable march of history: to stop it. The very purpose of the conservative is to prevent, or delay as long as possible, the inevitable progress that human society will make. The conservative is an agent of preservation. Keep things as they are. Hidden within this of course is the unspoken insidious garbage ‘because we are doing just fine’. That old quip about conservatism being selfishness manifested as a political ideology holds up for a reason.
The Definition in Action: The Horseless Carriage to Renewable Energy
Lest you think I am merely blowing off steam here, as George Carlin said, I got a little evidence to back up my claim. Here are some examples, from very different points in history, of conservatives yelling stop as history marched on.
The first example is the motor vehicle; the ‘horseless carriage’ as it was known. This ‘new-fangled’ piece of technology was a threat to the existing horse-and-buggy industry and the associated jobs. Think of all those employed shovelling sh*t. Ok seriously, it was said the car would never take off, and the conservatives opposed it. Even arguing with 20/20 hindsight, the motorcar was a serious leap forward and the conservatives opposed it because it was different.
Example two is slightly more recent, and cuts deeper: racial segregation. By the 1950s, society had, in many places, moved beyond the point where keeping blacks and whites separated was considered acceptable. But not conservatives. This is the way we’ve always done it. Separate but Equal. They want special rights to mix with us. Society will collapse. All the same trite crap made the rounds then as it does now.
Example three is more recent again, and concerns marriage equality. By 2012 in the United States, the Supreme Court reached the decision that homosexual couples’ right to marriage, with all the associated rights and protections, was in fact guaranteed under US law. Once again, the conservatives opposed the case even going to the Court. Marriage has always been between a man and a woman. They already have civil unions (separate but equal), they want special rights. Society will collapse.
Same Sh*t, Different Time: The Opposition Playbook
You may have noticed during examples two and three above that I did not have to change my description of the conservative ‘opposition’ much. This reveals, I think, something about conservative ‘opposition’ to social and political progress. It is never about the substance. At least not on the face of it. They seem to oppose change for the sake of preserving what is. Oh the conservatives of the various eras may not have liked marriage equality or racial integration as concepts, but I think their opposition was more about keeping ‘out groups’ on the out. Societal and legal protections had long been available to a restricted few, and those on the inside damn sure meant to defend those privileges.
As evidence for the argument, I advanced above, consider the fact that the ‘opposition’ lines are always the same: this violates tradition, [group] wants special rights, they already have [parallel yet inferior version of the right under debate]. It is as if they pick up the same script every time someone tries to introduce some scintilla of social progress. Almost as if it is not about the actual social progress. Almost as if conservatives are just relics of a bygone era yearning for the good old days when blacks knew their place and the little woman always had dinner and whiskey waiting for you when you got home.
Full Circle: Why is Conservatism?
To come full circle, I return to the question posed in the title: why is conservatism? The sole reason for their existence is to stymie, to delay, to be that annoying kid who asks, ‘but why’? If you had a member of a club who was always asking why the rules were ever changed for any reason (no matter the practical reason), what is their purpose?
The entire conservative movement is naught but a collective of miserly social regressives who reject change because it threatens their comfortable existence. They are the clergy and nobles of Ancien Regime France: preening dandies with incredible unearned social privileges who resent the idea of any change at all lest anyone come for their gold butt-scratcher.
Economically, conservatives serve the big end of town. Socially, they serve tradition. They do not seem to understand that arguing from tradition leads to some very dark places. Or perhaps they do know. It is unclear which is worse.
Much like the already rich arguing for Libertarian economics, only those already privileged could argue from tradition.
Why is Conservatism? It is a millstone around the neck of humanity.
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