Who was the first Conservative?
A friend of mine asked me this earlier in the year, and it’s a question that has stuck with me ever since. I’ve been trying to scour my knowledge of history, but I’m not sure I’ve come up with a satisfactory answer. Nonetheless, my answer currently is Thrasybulus (check out his wikipedia).
I came to Thrasybulus after a series of deductions. 1) The first conservative needed to be someone who was a member of/ contributor to Western civilization. 2) One can trace Ancient Greece as the origin of the West (as an idea, not a geographical point). 3) Who is the world’s best source on Ancient Greek history? Donald Kagan! So, combing through my notes from his Introduction to Ancient Greek History lecture, I came upon the name Thrasybulus – a man given prominence in the class but has been unfortunately overlooked in the annals of history. His commitment to values and the preservation of proper order seemed like a perfect fit.
My instinctual guess was Edmund Burke – but I feel this answer is somewhat of a copout. Although he is the primary father of modern conservatism, I feel one must look through his intellectual ancestors to answer the question. So, Ricochet (particularly Ricochet’s history wonks), who was the first conservative?
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Comments:
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
Thrasybulus? Puh-leeze. If, as Irving Kristol used to say, "a conservative is a liberal who got mugged," then the first conservative was Adam. The moment he bit the apple he learned the snake had lied to him--and that creation was going to prove a much harsher, trickier place than he had supposed.
Sep '10
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
then the first conservative was Adam.
That would make Adam's rib the first tax forcibly extracted from a conservative.
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
Pseudodionysius: then the first conservative was Adam.
That would make Adam's rib the first tax forcibly extracted from a conservative. · Jun 6 at 1:39pm
I don't like where this is going. Next you're going to be making the case for why women were the first welfare recipients and, ergo, the first liberals.
Mar '11
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
Does that make the Deity the first tax collector?
In which case, I fear the IRS will instate a new motto, "God is on Our Side".
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
I was once the head teaching assistant in the course that you took (back, of course, in the last millennium) and I do not remember Don Kagan (which is properly pronounced with the same emphasis as is used in as Don Corleone) ever even mention Thrasybulus.
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
Hmm. That's interesting. I'm surprised he wasn't in the curriculum. If you're interested in how he now is featured, here are some links (mainly the first):
http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/sessions/session-21-the-struggle-for-hegemony-in-fourth
http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/sessions/session-22-the-struggle-for-hegemony-in-fourth
Aug '10
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Pseudodionysius: then the first conservative was Adam.
That would make Adam's rib the first tax forcibly extracted from a conservative. · Jun 6 at 1:39pm
I don't like where this is going. Next you're going to be making the case for why women were the first welfare recipients and, ergo, the first liberals. · Jun 6 at 1:55pm
Naw, I'd say what it shows is that Adam's rib was one of the few taxes where the benefits returned exceeded what was taken. Which makes it something of a miracle. But then, it was.
Mar '11
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
I was going to answer Samuel. The people demanded a king. Samuel told them that that was a bad idea, and why it was a bad idea. They demanded it anyway, and they got it -- and all the "unintended consequences" came to pass.
Sep '10
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
Harry Graver, Intern
Hmm. That's interesting. I'm surprised he wasn't in the curriculum. If you're interested in how he now is featured, here are some links (mainly the first):
http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/sessions/session-21-the-struggle-for-hegemony-in-fourth
http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/sessions/session-22-the-struggle-for-hegemony-in-fourth · Jun 6 at 3:58pm
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/1998/1998-12-13-xlit.html
Sep '10
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Pseudodionysius: then the first conservative was Adam.
That would make Adam's rib the first tax forcibly extracted from a conservative. · Jun 6 at 1:39pm
I don't like where this is going. Next you're going to be making the case for why women were the first welfare recipients and, ergo, the first liberals. · Jun 6 at 1:55pm
I said no such thing. And I certainly didn't use Archie Bunker's line:
Archie: “Come on Irene, it’s a well known fact—men are worth more than women.”
Irene: “Archie, have you been reading playboy?”
Archie: “No Irene! The Bible.”
Irene: “The Bible?”
Archie: “In the Bible it says, ‘God made man in his own image.’ He made women after from a rib—a cheaper cut.”
May '10
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
The First Conservative? God. A monarchist with a capital "M."
Apr '11
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
G-d created the world out of nothing, which I wouldn't consider the most conservative act, and while Adam proved that humans cannot maintain a utopian paradise, his loss of it was not exactly conservative either. Thus, I would put forward Noah. He maintained the standards G-d had commanded while others around him innovated in pernicious ways. They were punished and he survived to perpetuate the human race.
Seriously, though, discussions of the political spectrum before the left was nailed down by Marxist socialism don't make much sense. Much of the conservative agenda of 2011 is intellectually consistent with the classical liberalism of the 18th century.
Oct '10
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Pseudodionysius: then the first conservative was Adam.
That would make Adam's rib the first tax forcibly extracted from a conservative. · Jun 6 at 1:39pm
I don't like where this is going. Next you're going to be making the case for why women were the first welfare recipients and, ergo, the first liberals. · Jun 6 at 1:55pm
I have always said the first liberal was the Devil.
Jul '10
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
I'm more than a little surprised that no Catos have been pitched yet.
Regardless, the first conservative wasn't some big-shot. The first conservative was merely some guy (or gal) who said:
You want me to do what?
Nope. This way works well.
Edited on June 7, 2011 at 6:22amAug '10
Re: Who was the first Conservative?
Clearly, the first conservative was Oog, who opposed the policies of the more dashing and popular Grop. Oog was upset by Grop's insistence that the clan use communal resources to procure paint for the clan's cave-painters.
I'm surprised the intern didn't know this, since he seems to know freakin' everything there is to know about political history!
;-)
I kid, because I love.
Edited on June 7, 2011 at 8:42pm