1) Authority and property are the two central concepts in conservative philosophy. Authority is central because it is the first requisite for a society, a means for the restraint of men's passions which would otherwise destroy society. Property is also central because it is more than a mere appendage to man, it is the very condition of man's superiority over the natural world.
2) Conservatives would emphasize corporate rights over individual rights because groups of individuals (corporations, guilds, classes, communities, etc.) served as intermediaries between the individual and the larger political power. These groups made weak individuals strong because they organized collective opposition against the larger political power of the state. As Tocqueville declared, these intermediate associations are necessary in democracies because, by their very existence and the loyalties they win from their members, they offset the power of the social democratic state. An individual is worse off when his rights are defended against the groups to which he belongs because it separates him from the shelter of the organization; it makes him more vulnerable and submissive to state power.
3) It should be hard for people to rise above their station because they will appreciate their staus much more than if it were handed to them, and as a result more prudent in their judgment about how to employ their newfound prestige in service to their community. Equality of opportunity is a bad thing because it involves using law and government to deliberately hinder the liberties of individuals more successful than others in their endeavors. Freedom requires hierarchy because hierarchy allows the existence of functional social consensus.
4) To conservatives, the market system as whole has corrupted the concept of property ownership. Land has become a commodity rather than a basis for a way of life; land used to justify itself as a form of wealth but now it is seen as a form of soft wealth, wealth to be partitioned and traded for currency to invest in banks or stocks. The capitalist process takes the life out of the idea of property by making the factory and it machinery as the means of a worker's subsistence. Yet this was after the Industrial Revolution made the factory a reality; prior to that it was the rise of land speculation, which reduced land to a commodity to be bought and sold according to its commercial value.
5) All Christians are obliged by charity, and the obligation is serious enough that it comes after the payment of debts. In that context the primary purpose of government is to prevent evil insofar as it does not interfere in the affairs of local subsidiary.
6) Fervent devotion to religion is a problem for conservatives because they seek to establish a sphere of religious influence that is separate from the state yet at the same does not demand political loyalty from its followers. What is sought is a civil religion that can be manifested both religiously and politically, a religion that can politically exploited if necessary. Religion is valuable to conservatives because it provides a moral compass, a keystone for any society. If people were "liberated" from religious orthodoxy, they would be subject to many fears and aberrations of both an emotional and psychological nature; they would only be relieved by the periodical enthusiasm that distracts them from their spiritual starvation.
2) Conservatives would emphasize corporate rights over individual rights because groups of individuals (corporations, guilds, classes, communities, etc.) served as intermediaries between the individual and the larger political power. These groups made weak individuals strong because they organized collective opposition against the larger political power of the state. As Tocqueville declared, these intermediate associations are necessary in democracies because, by their very existence and the loyalties they win from their members, they offset the power of the social democratic state. An individual is worse off when his rights are defended against the groups to which he belongs because it separates him from the shelter of the organization; it makes him more vulnerable and submissive to state power.
3) It should be hard for people to rise above their station because they will appreciate their staus much more than if it were handed to them, and as a result more prudent in their judgment about how to employ their newfound prestige in service to their community. Equality of opportunity is a bad thing because it involves using law and government to deliberately hinder the liberties of individuals more successful than others in their endeavors. Freedom requires hierarchy because hierarchy allows the existence of functional social consensus.
4) To conservatives, the market system as whole has corrupted the concept of property ownership. Land has become a commodity rather than a basis for a way of life; land used to justify itself as a form of wealth but now it is seen as a form of soft wealth, wealth to be partitioned and traded for currency to invest in banks or stocks. The capitalist process takes the life out of the idea of property by making the factory and it machinery as the means of a worker's subsistence. Yet this was after the Industrial Revolution made the factory a reality; prior to that it was the rise of land speculation, which reduced land to a commodity to be bought and sold according to its commercial value.
5) All Christians are obliged by charity, and the obligation is serious enough that it comes after the payment of debts. In that context the primary purpose of government is to prevent evil insofar as it does not interfere in the affairs of local subsidiary.
6) Fervent devotion to religion is a problem for conservatives because they seek to establish a sphere of religious influence that is separate from the state yet at the same does not demand political loyalty from its followers. What is sought is a civil religion that can be manifested both religiously and politically, a religion that can politically exploited if necessary. Religion is valuable to conservatives because it provides a moral compass, a keystone for any society. If people were "liberated" from religious orthodoxy, they would be subject to many fears and aberrations of both an emotional and psychological nature; they would only be relieved by the periodical enthusiasm that distracts them from their spiritual starvation.
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