The article, Left is for Liberal, looks at the ideology and history of liberals. This time we’re tackling the Tories. We’ll start with general concepts, address social issues, and then turn to economics.
Understanding conservatism is complicated because there are various types. Knowing liberalism is easy: socially, you let everyone do as they wish and then economically play Robin Hood. But there’s a lot more to tilting right (especially in the States).
Carrot vs. stick
Billy lost a friend through an accident. He’s taken time off to grieve. After three days, dad suggests he get back to school. Billy’s mom says just a few more days. Who’s right? It depends. Sometimes kids need to be coddled and sometimes they need a kick in the pants.
In the olden days, the coddling style was attributed to females (liberal), while the miserable boot-in-the-arse system was characteristic of men (conservative). But any parent can relate. Sometimes you have to be understanding and sometimes you need to be firm. In political speak we say “sometimes the carrot, sometimes the stick” or “sometimes the hand, sometimes the fist.” Liberals and cons play each other’s yin and yang in this regard, and both approaches should be respected.
Adjectives
These ideologies stay true to their adjectives. Conservatives like to implement change slowly and after considerable consideration, preferably in baby steps. Liberals are more apt to go with sweeping changes that are grandiose. The formal definition of the word liberal is “open to new behavior and willing to discard traditional values,” while conservative means “holding to traditional attitudes and cautious about change or innovation.”
The political terms, left and right, come from the old French Assembly. Those favouring change sat on the left side of the chamber, while those preferring things stay the same sat on the right.
The Bible
A big part of conservative social resistance rests with the Bible. Remember, 100 years ago everyone was religious. It’s the liberals who broke away. Conservatives didn’t run around soliciting people into believing this stuff—they already believed. And though Christianity has served us well through things like the Protestant work ethic, the Bible says some pretty weird stuff—especially when it comes to women and gay rights. So liberals championed us away through various causes, while cons found it best to resist (claiming higher moral ground).
Personal responsibility
Social cons also say we’re better served when people take responsibility for themselves (as with capitalism). Conservatives believe you wake up in the morning and get to work. This sometimes gets misinterpreted as “me versus we,” but that’s not the case. To them, society doesn’t function if too many play the victim. Conservatives say be a giver, not a taker, and take pride in your hard work. Only make children when you can afford them and then live within your means. Self-respect is an admirable quality. Yes, the strong must carry the weak but the weak must also put forth their best efforts. (Much of this comes from the old farming mentality where people help each other out, but no one takes advantage.)
Less government
This concept then extends into believing in smaller government, especially when it comes to social assistance. Conservatives say if your nephew doesn’t have money, it’s a family problem and he shouldn’t be looking to government for help. And they say a lot of what gov does now should be performed by private charity or solved within the home. Sure, if someone doesn’t have a rich uncle it’s okay for society to assist, but in an environment of lower taxation the idea is for families to address such issues. (And with taxes so darn high, it’s confusing whose job this is.)
Free market
Remember back in school how some people were strong at English while others were good at math. Well, conservatives consider themselves good at math. Mostly because many are business-minded brawlers who lean towards the free market system. Fiscal conservatives desire smaller government because they don’t want gov involved unless it’s absolutely necessary (e.g., starting a railway). They believe in privatizing and subcontracting services where possible, and totally despise red tape—preferring efficiency instead.
Jefferson
America was founded on freedom, specifically from tyranny of government. Thomas Jefferson’s writings are symbolic of this and many Americans still carry his flag. Not just NRA members who pack military grade in case the feds decide to attack, there are plenty who vehemently oppose government authority over any part of their lives. But to be honest, some of this disdain is obsolete. Take for example health care. Back in Tommy’s time, if you suffered from heart problems you just died. But today we have methods to cure such disorders, so why not band together and group insure?
Roosevelt
Teddy Roosevelt was president from 1901 to 1909. He was a conservative Republican. Back then, they didn’t have term limits so he re-ran in 1912, advocating the principles of a welfare state. For such a radical position he was labelled a progressive. Naturally, the Jeffersonians went nuts and strongly opposed these ideals, successfully defeating his candidacy, but the term and political ideology remain. (Teddy’s cousin, Franklin Roosevelt, a democrat who also served as president, introduced the welfare state in the 1930s. It was called the New Deal.)
Progressives are now called moderates or centre-right conservatives. They believe in the welfare state but also subscribe to common free market principles like privatization and outsourcing where possible, limited government spending, and most other right-wing stances (except maybe the old Bible stuff).
Summary
So we have a wide variety within conservatism. Many buy into the whole package, while others favour just a few thoughts (say, religious beliefs). Regardless, they come together to form the antithesis to runaway liberals who, through their naïve economic agenda, are trying to ruin the world (wink).
F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “intelligence is the ability to hold opposing views at the same time.” And if people could do this more often, politics would be fun. As it is, we have an angry game being played between perceived good guys and bad—which is ridiculous. The principles of conservatism are solid and they’re essential for any society to succeed. Liquor stores should be privatized and garbage collection should be outsourced. Government can’t be the solution to everyone’s problems and culture should call on personal responsibility. It’s not that cons are opposed to the strong carrying the weak—they just disagree with the liberal way of doing it. Their version is: don’t give a man a fish, tell him to go fishing.
In the end, anti-biblical change will come because it represents freedom. And everyone will learn to embrace the welfare state. But don’t expect all of this to happen anytime soon—conservatives like to move slow, real slow.
Note: Libertarians are social liberals and Jeffersonian conservatives, which makes them one step away from anarchists.