Conservatism FAQ

This is the February 1, 2005 revision of a summary of questions and objections regarding conservatism. Additional questions and comments are welcome. The conservatism discussed is traditionalist American conservatism. Other varieties are touched on in section 6, and their adherents are urged to draft additional FAQs. For further discussion and relevant links, see the Traditionalist More ...

Is conservatism to the point?

I got another note from my Finnish correspondent, who continues to express some dissatisfaction with conservatism (he is specially concerned with Russell Kirk). As in the past (here and here) his questions seemed worth editing and passing on, together with my attempts to answer them:

Finnish Correspondent: Nothing changes. When communism failed,

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More questions on conservatism

More questions from my Finnish correspondent, with responses:

Q: If the possession of property is necessary for development of responsibility and virtue, it seems reasonable to desire an extension of this possession to as many as possible. Why don’t American conservatives make more of that issue?

A: I think that the notion that government action

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Why now?

A correspondent with a scientific turn of mind wanted to pursue a question raised here a a week or two ago, why the Derrida and similar viruses are such a plague now when earlier they weren’t a problem.

My comments (slightly edited):

It seems that most “why now” explanations emphasize features of modern life

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Is conservatism winning or losing badly?

Conservatives can be divided into (1) pessimists, who think the trend is down, down, down, and (1) optimists, who think things aren’t so bad. The pessimists point to things like Grutter, Lawrence, and the business-as-usual attitude of most mainstream conservatives to those decisions. The optimists point to things like practical limitations on the … More ...