Conservatism is a victim of the Spartacus assertion climate. “I’m a conservative” or “this is conservative” is akin to the Spartacus assertion in religion. “I’m a Catholic” or “I’m a Jew”, or “I’m whatever”. There is no longer a standard. You are what you claim. People can assert.
What are the marks of a ‘true conservative’? Who is the Pope to excommunicate those who are not true believers?
I’d like to see the publication of a Conservative Manifesto and it’s legislative contract with America. Right now the PAC that I fear most of all is Posing As Conservative.
“What are the marks of a ‘true conservative’? I’d like to see the publication of a Conservative Manifesto and it’s legislative contract with America. Right now the PAC that I fear most of all is Posing As Conservative.”
That, I suppose, is the central question of a move to help “revitalize” supprot for the conservative candidates.
Kirk? From 1986?
It is not possible to draw up a neat catalogue of conservatives’ convictions; nevertheless, I offer you, summarily, ten general principles; it seems safe to say that most conservatives would subscribe to most of these maxims. In various editions of my book The Conservative Mind I have listed certain canons of conservative thought—the list differing somewhat from edition to edition; in my anthology The Portable Conservative Reader I offer variations upon this theme.
Today I present to you a summary of conservative assumptions differing somewhat from my canons in those two books of mine. In fine, the diversity of ways in which conservative views may find expression is itself proof that conservatism is no fixed ideology. What particular principles conservatives emphasize during any given time will vary with the circumstances and necessities of that era. The following ten articles of belief reflect the emphases of conservatives in America nowadays.
http://www.heritage.org/research/politicalphilosophy/hl86.cfm
“Traditional conservatism was based on six principles: a suspicion of the power of the state; a preference for liberty over equality; unashamed patriotism; a belief in established institutions and hierarchies; a pessimistic, backward-looking pragmatism; and elitism. This was the creed that Burke shaped into a philosophy in the 18th century—and that most famous conservatives, from Prince Metternich to Winston Churchill, understood in their bones. Mr. Reagan’s conservatism exaggerated the first three of Burke’s principles and contradicted the last three.”
http://www.opinionjournal.com/ac/?id=110005188