Conservatism

1. According to Nisbet, Burke saw the French Revolution as “leveling in the name of equality, nihilism in the name of liberty, and power, absolute and total, in the name of the people…[It] was far less interested in the actual and the living…than in the kind of human beings the Revolutionary leaders believed they could manufacture through education, persuasion and when necessary force and terror.” Burke’s issue was that the traditional social order of feudalism which (in his eyes) held his country together was being destroyed, with an undue emphasis being placed on the individual (especially regarding property being taken away from the aristocracy and the Church by the state, etc.) and the role of cold, hard reason being regarded as the highest virtue.
2. Jeremy Bentham’s complicated ideals make him difficult to label, but he appears to be a libertarian in a certain limited sense, but also a lift-liberal in many more ways. For example, his theories revolving around individual interests and being able to pursue one’s happiness sound somewhat libertarian, but attempting to achieve the “greatest good to the greatest number” based upon a centralized utilitarian authority and things such as the professional civil service sound more left-liberal in nature.
3. Simple solutions for a conservative run the risk of being out of accord with reality and the needs of the people for whom they are designed – they are perhaps too idealistic. Prejudices in economic and political decision, according to Burke are necessary and a good thing, as they arise from history and tradition and are what ensure the protection of liberty in society.