(Or the six principles which conservatives seek to conserve)
I want to continue with a theme that I started with at the beginning of the year: what does it mean to be a conservative. Now even among conservatives, there are many definitions for conservatism, but the the broadest definition that I can come up is that conservatism* is about conserving the ideas and principles which preserve our liberty. Conservatism is not about maintaining outdated traditions or some status quo.
*This is conservatism in American politics.
What are these principles which preserve our liberty? Well, I want to take a look at that. I have come up with at least 6 principles which conservatives seek to maintain.
- Truth- conservatives unique attitude towards the Truth, and the method for finding it.
- Natural Law- the system of ethics that our legal system is founded on.
- Human rights- part of Natural Law, we believe that all humans are born with certain rights
- Liberty- the purest form of freedom
- Justice- we cannot maintain liberty without justice
- Checks and balances- Our country has an intricate system of checks and balances that must be maintained.
Now most people who identify as conservatives are pragmatists. That is to say, they believe (at least some if not all) conservative policies work to create a society with greater liberty and prosperity for all. However, historically, and today in a growing movement, conservatism is becoming more and more about following a conservative interpretation of the Constitution.
Truth
Ok, everyone is going to make the claim that their position in the truth. I am of, course doing no different here. However, even beyond that, conservatives have an entirely different view of the truth. I would argue that conservatives and progressives have an entirely different ways of dealing with unpleasant ideas.
Conservatives generally have a pragmatic view of truth. That is to say that they seek what works best to create liberty and prosperity.
Natural law
Conservatives hold that morality is not relative. We also hold that there are some ethical laws, which are universally applicable, no matter what religion or culture you come from. We believe that certain moral truths are self-evident, and can be known intuitively. Whether you believe that it comes from a God-given conscience, or from your sub-conscious (System 1 thinking). The people can then elect representatives to pass legislation, to reflect the conscience of the people.
Human rights
In political philosophy, there are two theories on the meaning of rights: positive rights and negative rights. They are misnamed in my opinion, because negative rights are not a negative thing. Positive rights means that the government (and by extension society) must give you something, like free healthcare or education. Negative rights means that the government (and society) will not prevent you from doing something, like speaking freely.
I will dive into this more in a future post, but conservatives take the negative rights approach. Why? Because negative rights do not harm anyone, and they don't cost anyone time or money. It shouldn't cost anything to be a decent person. If you want to help someone out, you are free to do that, but no one should force you to do so. That would take away the joy of helping: doing it willingly.
Conservatives recognize many of these negative rights. Among them are the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That "pursuit of happiness" is an old-fashioned term, I like to redefine it as the pursuit of anything material or immaterial that leads to human flourishing. If you want to make money, you are free to do that. If you want to spend money on health care or education, you are free to do that. If you want to give money to charities so that the less fortunate can afford things, awesome!
Liberty
Liberty is not the freedom to do whatever you want. Did your parents ever tell you that? It's true. First off, you do not have the freedom to trample on some else's rights. If you do that, then we no longer have freedom for everyone, but instead tyranny from the strongest. So we all must agree not to infringe on the rights of others.
Second, on a personal level, you should use your liberty to do good instead of evil. The government cannot make you a moral person. It can only pass laws and try to enforce them. However, if you personally are using your freedom to do things that are less-than-good you are wasting your freedom. Also, if you are using your freedom to do something that is addictive or dangerous, you risk throwing away your life or your liberty. Now, liberty is about letting people make their own choices, but I will always promote liberty coupled with personal responsibility.
Justice
You cannot have liberty and a civil society without justice. Without justice, there is no repercussions for those who trample on the rights of others. Without laws and a system to enforce them, criminals will simply bully the week. Conservatives believe that the role of mediating and dispensing justice belongs to the government (at least when individuals can't resolve it peacefully).
This is one of the main differences between conservatives and those like "liberal-tarian", voluntarians, and anarchists. Those ideologies tend to believe that government is inherently immoral, because it uses force. Conservatives understand that we need the institution of government to protect the rights of the weak from those who would trample them by force.
Checks and balances
Conservatives believe in a system of checks and balances. Our Constitution sets up such a system between different entities, namely the three branches of government. While the Constitution does not say the words "separation of church and state" (go ahead, look it up), it does guarantee that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,".
Now before you get too excited, the sentence finishes out "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Now I am talking about religion in the broadest sense: any philosophical and ethical system and practices. You have the right to exercise your beliefs, so long as you don't infringe on the rights of others. You also have the right to exercise, by using your moral code as a guide in your voting.
We believe in the tenth amendment that delegates all other powers to the states and to the people, rather than having a federal government which micromanages everything. However, during the 1800s, conservative Republican Party was founded to abolish slavery, because we believed that states rights do not trump human rights.
Finally, we have a democratic-republic rather than a pure democracy. This is an important distinction to make, conservatives don't believe in a simple "majority-rule". Why not? Because if we have majority-rule, then it sucks to be in the minority. This leads to the sort of mob-rule which allowed for slavery, segregation, and Nazism. Just because the majority says something doesn't make it right. Do you remember your parents asking you "if all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you go too?"
These are my 6 principles, which define conservatism. Different people may define it different ways, but I am arguing that these are the ones which are essential to conservatism. What do you think? Does this change how you see conservatives?
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