As I have written before, the basic premise of Conservatism is that Man is not perfectible, but rather that he is, indeed, fallible, but in this fallibility is all that makes us human, including our talents, ambitions, desires and aspirations. Victor Davis Hanson has referred to this as our tragic fate, for we are destined to have heartbreak and disappointment, but overcoming and triumphing gives us the chance to be heroic, indeed to be more than we ever dreamed. Perfection comes in one flavor, while humanity’s palette is infinite. That is worth the acceptance of our frailty and imperfection.

The other foundation of Conservatism is a belief in a Higher Power, which bestows upon us certain moral absolutes which are not subject to majority approval or social engineering. I have debated this point with people who call themselves Secular Conservatives, a name I consider an oxymoron; if you go back to Burke, the founder of modern Conservatism and work your way to the present, belief in God is an integral part of the philosophy, and indeed, was a major demarcation point with the secular Liberals, who threw religion out with all the other building blocks of society after they stormed the Bastille and began the march towards their paradise, a path which ended with Marx and Communism, when religion was denigrated as the opiate of the Masses. Now you can subscribe to small government, capitalism, family values and many of the other tenets of a Conservative, but unless you believe in God, you are not one by historical definition. To redefine it is to create something else all together.

Having stated it’s axioms, how does Conservativism play out in the world? First and foremost, there is an overriding fear of government, which is recognized as a route to tyranny. Even if the goals are justified, a Conservative knows that power corrupts, and that even the best of intentions can, and will, lead to unforeseen consequences. Therefore governmental power should be minimized, and when it is necessary, checks and balances incorporated to prevent its accumulation in any one man or group of men. And just as important, Conservatism recognizes that government cannot change men, that the governed do not mirror the government, but rather the government reflects its citizens. Improvement comes by people changing, not by fiat from a paternalistic authority. Thus quotas, affirmative action, redistribution of income, entitlements, and all the other programs which are meant to make society “better and fairer” are recognized for what they are: futile attempts at social engineering which lead to more governmental power, more waste and more corruption.

At the same time, all those institutions and processes which have developed over time, sometimes thousands of years, and which counter balance government, and indeed protect us from it, are defended. Thus marriage and its values, the fundamental unit of society for thousands of years, is held sacred, and attempts to change its basic nature are fought. Gay marriage is looked upon for what it is: not an attempt to create another stable unit of civilization, but rather an indirect attack on what marriage stands for, and in European countries which have instituted it, Gay marriage has resulted in decreasing marriage rates and increasing out of wedlock births, for once marriage loses that special place it holds in society, and becomes just another option for living together, it quickly declines since the commitment and self abnegation it demands quickly loses their appeal.

Smaller governing units, such as states, which tend to be more responsive to their citizens concerns, are also held in higher regard by Conservatives than Liberals, who see them as standing in the way of their attempts to reorganize the country according to their precepts. The logical extension of this is that Conservatives defend nation states against global institutions, which are the ultimate Big government, and therefore see in the UN an effort to run roughshod over the sovereignty of the US, as the tyranny of the third world nations replicates the raw democracy of the French Revolution on a much bigger scale as they attempt to bring the mighty low out of envy and greed. A Conservative understands that nations behave like people and follow their self interests, and that force is often a necessary deterrent or corrective. The UN negates the idea of balance of power and power politics, and replaces it with rule by mob, which is really no rule at all. Its wonderful to think that we can all sit down and talk out our problems, but that is not how the world works, as every nation seeks its own advantages. Therefore, all that is accomplished is that the US, the greatest power in the world, is leashed and restrained, and the opportunity for the peace which historically has been enforced by the most powerful nation, whether the Pax Romana or Pax Britannica , is missing, and the world is in turmoil.

Abortion and euthanasia, which this past week was recommended for consideration for sick infants in Britain, are looked upon as a violation of the Natural Law which God has bestowed upon us, and whereas a Liberal sees abortion as an empowerment for females, a Conservative sees it as murder. This is really a cut and dried difference which I do not believe can be bridged. One cannot countenance murder for political expediency or to make women feel better about themselves, which has somehow become the countervailing argument. This, perhaps more than anything else, demonstrates the diametrically opposed views of Liberals and Conservatives, and puts the lie to the Liberal belief that all things are subject to rational discussion and solution. If life is sacred, murder is reprehensible, and no sophistry can change that.

Lastly, I saved the argument for capitalism, which, in many ways, is the most eloquent solution ever devised by men to address a fundamental problem, that of production and allocation of resources, which is what an economy is. Capitalism, which arose over centuries, actually accepts the selfishness of man, and uses it for the greater good in a way no Liberal formulated and imposed program has ever done. The famous “invisible hand” of the marketplace actually takes the individual actions of millions of people and creates a system which has produced more wealth in a hundred years than had been in the previous 5000 years of civilized life. For a Conservative, this beautiful mechanism, which acknowledges men’s greed and aspirations, and instead of defying them with government proclamations and regulations, allow them to work for the betterment of all is the ultimate example of how society should operate, and any attempt to “improve” it by the imposition of socialistic principles and regulations is fought with all available forces. In some respects there is no more important concept to defend for a Conservative.

So there you have it. It is certainly not an exhaustive examination of all the policies and beliefs of Conservatism, but it does touch on the major ones, and hopefully I have succeeded in tying them together by demonstrating the principles which under gird them. I think it is important that Conservatives recognize that we should never defer to the supposed high road and morality that Liberals claim as their own , as they look down their noses at what they perceive as our selfish and mercenary policies. We, too, seek to improve the world, but recognize that reality is messy and cumbersome, and not able to be ignored. Not for us the ivy towers which house the Liberal pundits who see the world as they would like it, not as it is. It is all well and good to formulate fairy tales, but in the light of day they dissipate like so much fluff. While Liberalism gives birth to the fanciful and fantastic, which oftentimes turns into the horrible and dangerous, Conservatism has been busy making the world a better place by seeing it as it is, and guiding it to what it can be. For that we should all be proud.