Some Distinctions

Before I write more on my series (which I haven't had time to do since the beginning of the semester) I thought I would share an insight that we discussed in my political philosophy class that perhaps clarifies what I have been arguing.

There is a disctiontion between true political conservatism (which was and is extremely rare in the 20th and early 21st centuries) and conservative liberalism. Neo-conservatives and libertarians are NOT political conservatives, they are in fact conservative liberals. This is true of many of the "faces" that one associates with American "conservatism": Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck. They are, essentially, politically liberal but more on the conservative end. This is because they accept, whether or not they consciously understand it or not (I would wager they don't), the political liberalism of the Enlightenment. This tradition began with Locke and his social contract theory int he late 1600s which emphasized radical freedom of volition, rights, equality, and reason. It also violently opposes tradition, customs, and religion. What I have been attempting to show is that this understanding of government is utterly opposed to Christianity and my political conservatism is inherently Christian-based.

Thus liberal conservatives, while they may oppose so-called libera liberal policies such as the welfare state, Keynsian economic theory, internationalism, and cultural diversity, they core assumptions are the same as their liberal liberal foes. They believe that freedom, not justice or virtue, is the chief political value. They operate on the understanding they there is a "common good" for society that can be deduced by reason. Thus we get books such as Glenn Becks Arguing with Idiots and its counterparts on the American left. The idea is that those who disagree with us must be stupid. Why else would they disagree with us? I personally believe this is because they have fundamentally different pre-suppositions about how society should be. Thus the ultimate value for both conservative liberals and liberal liberals is the self (or perhaps the nation in the nationalism of the American right, but I believe this is just another self-justification principle; I am and American, America is great, thus I must be great). They also greatly value equality and egalitarianism and both caricature the opposition as "elitist." Both hold to social contract theory and believe the governments are legitimized by a mandate from the people. Thus both follow in the Enlightenment tradition of Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Jefferson opposed the to the tradition of Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and Burke.