We Are No Longer Conservatives; We Are Restorationists

 

Conservatives have long struggled to define the term “conservatism.” This makes sense since it’s always been less a political ideology than a life philosophy. Perhaps even an attitude.

When asked to define conservatism, Abraham Lincoln replied, “Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?”

William F. Buckley updated his answer for the mid-20th century, framing it in opposition to liberalism. In other words, an anti-ideology. In his book Up from Liberalism (1959), Buckley declares conservativism is  “freedom, individuality, the sense of community, the sanctity of the family, the supremacy of the conscience, the spiritual view of life.”

A half-century earlier, G.K. Chesterton didn’t so much define the term as identify the action it requires.

All conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone you leave it to a torrent of change. If you leave a white post alone it will soon be a black post. If you particularly want it to be white you must be always painting it again; that is, you must be always having a revolution. [Orthodoxy, 1908]

It isn’t enough to “stand athwart history, yelling ‘Stop.'” Conservatism requires intentional, aggressive work to evaluate the firehose of proposed changes, then promote the good ones and destroy the bad.

Or, as Reagan put it, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

Reagan was prophetic. These days, conservatives spend a lot of time telling younger generations what it was once like to be free. We speak of lost liberties and wonder how best to restore them.

Here’s the plain fact: there’s no need for conservatism when there’s little left to conserve.

That’s why, over at The Federalist, John Daniel Davidson declared, “We Need To Stop Calling Ourselves Conservatives.”

Conservatives have long defined their politics in terms of what they wish to conserve or preserve — individual rights, family values, religious freedom, and so on. Conservatives, we are told, want to preserve the rich traditions and civilizational achievements of the past, pass them on to the next generation, and defend them from the left. In America, conservatives and classical liberals alike rightly believe an ascendent left wants to dismantle our constitutional system and transform America into a woke dystopia. The task of conservatives, going back many decades now, has been to stop them.

In an earlier era, this made sense. There was much to conserve. But any honest appraisal of our situation today renders such a definition absurd. After all, what have conservatives succeeded in conserving? In just my lifetime, they have lost much: marriage as it has been understood for thousands of years, the First Amendment, any semblance of control over our borders, a fundamental distinction between men and women, and, especially of late, the basic rule of law.

We have conserved a few things — gun rights, red-state economic policies, religious liberty (for now) — but it’s hard to argue with the main thrust of Davidson’s assessment.

The right isn’t conserving much but desperately trying to restore our freedom, our family, and our constitutional order.

Words mean things, and in the modern age, so does branding. I agree that “conservative” has outlasted its accuracy, but we need to call ourselves something. To that end…

We are no longer Conservatives; we are Restorationists.

We seek not to conserve the role of tradition in our society but to restore tradition to its rightful place.

Similarly, there are no national borders left to conserve; they must be restored.

The family is shattered and we must reintroduce this cornerstone of civilization. (That includes gender norms promoted from the dawn of time.)

Free speech must be placed back in the academy, workplace, and civil society.

All of this is work. Hard work. As such, it requires all of us to join the effort; neighbors, business leaders, teachers, and our government.

This is no longer the time for Conservation. On to Restoration.

Published in Politics, Religion & Philosophy
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  1. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Interesting take . . .

    • #1
  2. Victor Tango Kilo Member
    Victor Tango Kilo
    @VtheK

    I like it. 👍

    • #2
  3. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    Stad (View Comment):

    Interesting take . . .

    These were sudden thoughts, quickly typed out. Now it’s the time for brilliant Ricochetti to flesh it all out in the comments. Tell me where I’m right and where I’m wrong so we can further develop this idea.

    • #3
  4. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Victor Tango Kilo (View Comment):

    I like it. 👍

    Something must be wrong.  I agree with Victor Tango Kilo.

    • #4
  5. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Interesting take . . .

    These were sudden thoughts, quickly typed out. Now it’s the time for brilliant Ricochetti to flesh it all out in the comments. Tell me where I’m right and where I’m wrong so we can further develop this idea.

    I think you make a decent case for claiming the term “restorationist.” However, I have been wondering lately how to approach all the people who do not recognize what has already been lost. My fellow moms of teens and tweens are either dedicated progressives or centrists who don’t seem to know or believe that the culture has shifted so much. They and their families are doing well, and they don’t seem to be too concerned with politics. Or if they see the problems we’re facing, they definitely don’t want to speak up about them. They’re too comfortable to rock the boat, I guess. 

    The latest example I have of that mindset is a friend who says that the parents of serious female high school athletes wouldn’t care if their daughters had to play on the same field with trans-girls. They would only make a fuss if their own daughter lost playing time as a result. In other words, any push back is based on self-interest and not principles that are foundational or beneficial for a healthy society. 

    • #5
  6. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    Lilly B (View Comment):
    I think you make a decent case for claiming the term “restorationist.” However, I have been wondering lately how to approach all the people who do not recognize what has already been lost. My fellow moms of teens and tweens are either dedicated progressives or centrists who don’t seem to know or believe that the culture has shifted so much. They and their families are doing well, and they don’t seem to be too concerned with politics. Or if they see the problems we’re facing, they definitely don’t want to speak up about them. They’re too comfortable to rock the boat, I guess. 

    The “frog in boiling water” metaphor comes to mind.

    • #6
  7. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    I get what this post means. I ate lunch at a Mission Barbecue today.  On the wall a large poster reads as follows what it means to be a US soldier:

    Soldier's Creed Wall. - Picture of Mission BBQ, Baltimore ...

    The soldier’s creed defends America and American values.  They are under attack.  We need to follow this example, otherwise what just happened in Britain, will happen here…………

     

    • #7
  8. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    GK Chesterton also said:

    The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected.

    Even when the revolutionist might himself repent of his revolution, the traditionalist is already defending it as part of his tradition. Thus, we have two great types — the advanced person who rushes us into ruin, and the retrospective person who admires the ruins. He admires them especially by moonlight, not to say moonshine.

    Each new blunder of the progressive or prig becomes instantly a legend of immemorial antiquity for the snob. This is called the balance, or mutual check, in our Constitution. (Illustrated London News, 1924)

    I prefer Restoration.

    • #8
  9. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    I’m not sure that our problem right now is too little freedom.  Many of our problems seem, to me, like too much freedom.

    Too much freedom for foreigners to enter our country and live here illegally.

    Too much freedom for people — especially young men — to withdraw into a world of porn and video games.

    Too much freedom for deviants to behave in bizarre ways, and teach those ways to our children.

    Too much freedom for women to kill their unborn babies.

    Too much freedom for people to have illegitimate kids.

    Too much freedom for people to kill themselves with dangerous and illegal drugs.

    Too much freedom for criminals to get away with their crimes.

    Too much freedom for tech companies to censor traditionalists.

    To much freedom for people to forego marriage and family.

    I don’t doubt that we have problems, at present, relating to too much government control over certain aspects of life.  Restrictions on energy production come to mind.  Application of the anti-discrimination laws comes to mind, especially when applied to behavior and when used to give express preference to women or blacks.  But for the most part, my sense is that our bigger problems are too much freedom.

    Maybe we need to return to duty.  That was one of our traditional values, wasn’t it?

    • #9
  10. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: We have conserved a few things — gun rights, red-state economic policies, religious liberty (for now) — but it’s hard to argue with the main thrust of Davidson’s assessment.

    One more thought.  We may have conserved our religious liberty, but we’ve pretty much lost our religion.  Have you looked at the figures on religious belief lately?

    Making matters worse, if you dig in, many people seem to identify with some religion — most often Christianity — while seeming to disagree with most of the teachings of the faith.

    I found Yoram Hazony’s explanation of this persuasive.  I’ve heard him argue that by taking God out of the public schools, we’ve been teaching the kids of our country, every single day, that God is not important.

    We used to teach religion in the public schools.  This ended due to a series of radical SCOTUS decisions from the late 1940s to the early 1960s.  It seems to me that this policy change led, directly and inevitably, to the massive decline in religious faith.  I worry that when you say that we’ve conserved religious liberty, the radical change adopted in the mid-20th Century is part of what you are happy to have conserved.  Perhaps not, though.  Please let me know.

    • #10
  11. Victor Tango Kilo Member
    Victor Tango Kilo
    @VtheK

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):
    Too much freedom for deviants to behave in bizarre ways, and teach those ways to our children.

    Some conservatives call this a blessing of liberty. 

    • #11
  12. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Will the responses  here to Jon’s post be the same as they were to Glen’s post when he brought attention to the very same article?

    I suspect not.

    I completely agree with both Jon and Glen.

    • #12
  13. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Lilly B (View Comment):

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Interesting take . . .

    These were sudden thoughts, quickly typed out. Now it’s the time for brilliant Ricochetti to flesh it all out in the comments. Tell me where I’m right and where I’m wrong so we can further develop this idea.

    I think you make a decent case for claiming the term “restorationist.” However, I have been wondering lately how to approach all the people who do not recognize what has already been lost. My fellow moms of teens and tweens are either dedicated progressives or centrists who don’t seem to know or believe that the culture has shifted so much. They and their families are doing well, and they don’t seem to be too concerned with politics. Or if they see the problems we’re facing, they definitely don’t want to speak up about them. They’re too comfortable to rock the boat, I guess.

    The latest example I have of that mindset is a friend who says that the parents of serious female high school athletes wouldn’t care if their daughters had to play on the same field with trans-girls. They would only make a fuss if their own daughter lost playing time as a result. In other words, any push back is based on self-interest and not principles that are foundational or beneficial for a healthy society.

    Let’s see what that parent thinks when some shemale competetor levels the daughter in a game.  

    • #13
  14. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    I very much approve of restorationist. And for those who don’t see the damage that has been done, we must be persistent and continuous. We must break through their reticence and their naivete. We all have too much to lose otherwise.

    • #14
  15. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Victor Tango Kilo (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):
    Too much freedom for deviants to behave in bizarre ways, and teach those ways to our children.

    Some conservatives call this a blessing of liberty.

    Libertarians?  

    • #15
  16. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Victor Tango Kilo (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):
    Too much freedom for deviants to behave in bizarre ways, and teach those ways to our children.

    Some conservatives call this a blessing of liberty.

    Libertarians?

    He’s talking about David French.

    • #16
  17. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    Lilly B (View Comment):
    I think you make a decent case for claiming the term “restorationist.” However, I have been wondering lately how to approach all the people who do not recognize what has already been lost. My fellow moms of teens and tweens are either dedicated progressives or centrists who don’t seem to know or believe that the culture has shifted so much. They and their families are doing well, and they don’t seem to be too concerned with politics. Or if they see the problems we’re facing, they definitely don’t want to speak up about them. They’re too comfortable to rock the boat, I guess.

    The “frog in boiling water” metaphor comes to mind.

    To be fair, they and their families are doing well because they are dedicated mothers and wives who spend their time volunteering in ways that help their children’s schools and their communities. They just don’t seem that bothered when ideas that undermine their traditions creep into their schools and churches and popular culture.

    Or maybe I am overly sensitive to it. That’s what I am trying to work out. When I saw my alma mater plastering “be the change” all over its walls years ago, I thought that was an awfully vague and potentially destructive idea to infuse into education. Others seemed to take it as an obvious “good thing.”

    • #17
  18. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Lilly B (View Comment):

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Interesting take . . .

    These were sudden thoughts, quickly typed out. Now it’s the time for brilliant Ricochetti to flesh it all out in the comments. Tell me where I’m right and where I’m wrong so we can further develop this idea.


    The latest example I have of that mindset is a friend who says that the parents of serious female high school athletes wouldn’t care if their daughters had to play on the same field with trans-girls. They would only make a fuss if their own daughter lost playing time as a result. In other words, any push back is based on self-interest and not principles that are foundational or beneficial for a healthy society.

    Let’s see what that parent thinks when some shemale competetor levels the daughter in a game.

    Yeah, that was my point, and that was her response. I hope some teenage lacrosse player doesn’t have to be severely injured to demonstrate the problem. It appears that women’s rugby is already trying to raise the red flag about such dangers. For some reason, women are unable to make the case successfully that these trans-women are dangerous and don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt that they can compete safely in sports.

    • #18
  19. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    Sorry to hijack this thread with trans stuff, but it seems to me that if we can’t restore the distinctions between men and women we can forget everything else. 

    • #19
  20. David Foster Member
    David Foster
    @DavidFoster

    Here’s a perhaps-off-the-wall thought…there’s a Japanese art known as Kintsugi, “the art of the golden repair.”  The idea is that if something is damaged, say a vase is cracked, you don’t repair it to try to make the crack invisible, you repair it to make the crack beautiful.  Bill Waddell, a very thoughtful manufacturing executive and consultant, has suggested that Kintsugi is also relevant in business,

    Maybe in political philosophy as well?

    • #20
  21. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Lilly B (View Comment):

    Sorry to hijack this thread with trans stuff, but it seems to me that if we can’t restore the distinctions between men and women we can forget everything else.

    It seems to me that the trans stuff is the natural and logical consequence of many other preceding steps, down the road toward greater “liberty” — though I would call it license — and toward “equality” between the sexes.

    I do agree that trans is a major battle line, but I think that it’s a symptom, not the root cause.

    • #21
  22. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    I very much approve of restorationist. And for those who don’t see the damage that has been done, we must be persistent and continuous. We must break through their reticence and their naivete. We all have too much to lose otherwise.

    Very well, if you insist. I do think that I’m getting a little old for this, though.

    • #22
  23. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    David Foster (View Comment):

    Here’s a perhaps-off-the-wall thought…there’s a Japanese art known as Kintsugi, “the art of the golden repair.” The idea is that if something is damaged, say a vase is cracked, you don’t repair it to try to make the crack invisible, you repair it to make the crack beautiful. Bill Waddell, a very thoughtful manufacturing executive and consultant, has suggested that Kintsugi is also relevant in business,

    Maybe in political philosophy as well?

    I don’t know if somehow this fits, but Chinese has wuwei, which can be when we see the crack, we see the beauty in it without repairing it. It tells us a story, a history, and can be powerful in our seeing it just as it is.

    • #23
  24. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    Despite the wit and warmth of WFB, conservatism has always be tainted with the perception that we were not the cool kids. We were the stiff privileged frat boys in Animal House opposed to the fun guys over in Delta House.  Looking at polling data, older middle aged voters have begun to notice that the fun frat has turned into a woke version of Hitler Youth who justify their malfeasance by fomenting a caricature of modern conservatives that would make Jefferson Davis seem like a moderate. No longer just uncool but a walking hate crime.

    And with history being erased and replaced with cartoon villains and victims, the word “restoration” seem “problematic” as the d-nozzles would say.

    First a diagnosis: We became self-indulgent and selfish.  We were told the life of sacrifice lived by our forbears was over, it was time to have fun. Like a hangover that won’t end, we live with wrecked marriages, warped kids or missed opportunities to have kids.  We replaced morals, patriotism and civic-mindedness with the empty yet costly ethos of herd like virtue-signaling. And we have widespread dependence on pills or booze.  We promote ideologies, movements and messages that seem designed solely to make women unhappy while requiring to declare their allegiance to these toxic notions. We attack the virtues, values and sheer enjoyment of manhood. When we decided to lose spiritual life we became fearful of material loss and voted for false promises of security which sapped both our freedom itself and the desire to use and fulfill the promises of freedom.

    So now what? Where we need to be doesn’t look like anything that ever was. The left offers a predictable, monolithic, embalmed condition whose sole virtue is that it is not the evil caricature it claims to hate. If instead we are fulfilling the promises of freedom what will happen is beyond imagination. What is the word for that?

     

    • #24
  25. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Old Bathos (View Comment):
    If instead we are fulfilling the promises of freedom what will happen is beyond imagination. What is the word for that?

    Will you take two words? Blessed life.

    • #25
  26. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Victor Tango Kilo (View Comment):

    I like it. 👍

    Something must be wrong. I agree with Victor Tango Kilo.

    Yet you are not for restorationism. You want to go back to business as usual, with the Republicans doing nothing to stop the Democrats. 

    Oh, wait, you are a Democrat.

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    Lilly B (View Comment):
    I think you make a decent case for claiming the term “restorationist.” However, I have been wondering lately how to approach all the people who do not recognize what has already been lost. My fellow moms of teens and tweens are either dedicated progressives or centrists who don’t seem to know or believe that the culture has shifted so much. They and their families are doing well, and they don’t seem to be too concerned with politics. Or if they see the problems we’re facing, they definitely don’t want to speak up about them. They’re too comfortable to rock the boat, I guess.

    The “frog in boiling water” metaphor comes to mind.

    Frogs will not let themselves be slowly boiled to death. That is a myth.

    • #26
  27. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Old Bathos (View Comment):
    First a diagnosis: We became self-indulgent and selfish.  We were told the life of sacrifice lived by our forbears was over, it was time to have fun.

    Old Bathos (View Comment):
    voted for false promises of security which sapped both our freedom itself

    http://financialrepressionauthority.com/2017/07/26/the-roundtable-insight-george-bragues-on-how-the-financial-markets-are-influenced-by-politics/

    https://mises.org/wire/were-living-age-capital-consumption

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    • #27
  28. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Old Bathos (View Comment):
    Despite the wit and warmth of WFB, conservatism has always be tainted with the perception that we were not the cool kids. We were the stiff privileged frat boys in Animal House opposed to the fun guys over in Delta House.  Looking at polling data, older middle aged voters have begun to notice that the fun frat has turned into a woke version of Hitler Youth who justify their malfeasance by fomenting a caricature of modern conservatives that would make Jefferson Davis seem like a moderate. No longer just uncool but a walking hate crime.

    This is quality writing, right here. lol 

    • #28
  29. DonG (CAGW is a Scam) Coolidge
    DonG (CAGW is a Scam)
    @DonG

    “Revival or bust”–Steve Deace

    I like “Restoration or bust” as it makes the options explicit.

    • #29
  30. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Anyone tired of hearing “the new normal”?

    • #30
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