Posted on 12/08/2016 7:21:17 AM PST by pinochet
A conservative is one who rejects, not only Marxism, but also the socialist and Jacobin ideologies which existed before the Marxist ideology came into existence. Marxism, socialism and Jacobinism, are the product of radical egalitarianism.
20th century American conservatives have exaggerated the differences between European conservatives and America's the founding fathers in the 1700s. European conservatism was about defending Monarchy and Aristocracy. America's founding fathers opposed King George III, but that does not mean they were hostile to all Kings.
Jefferson was a great admirer of the ancient Persian King, Cyrus the Great, and got some of his ideas on religious freedom from the religious tolerance that Cyrus promoted in ancient Persia. Jefferson also opposed the Jacobins of France, and was opposed to the removal of King Louis XVI, whom he thought should remain as a constitutional monarch
https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/french-revolution
Jefferson was also a believer in a "natural aristocracy" among men. In a letter to John Adams, Jefferson said:
"For I agree with you that there is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents....There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents; for with these it would belong to the first class. The natural aristocracy I consider as the most precious gift of nature for the instruction, the trusts, and government of society."
America's founding fathers were not hostile to monarchy and aristocracy. They just opposed King George III.
Christianity has historically taught that all souls are equal, in the sense that they have equal chance in acquiring salvation. But for most of its existence, Christianity has supported monarchy and aristocracy, as the natural way of governing human societies. That means, Christianity taught that human beings were unequal, despite having equal souls.
We must see human inequality as a way in which God distributes different talents to different people. Conservatives instinctively understand, that everyone cannot be as good in physics as Albert Einstein, even if everyone got the best physics teacher to teach him.
Conservatives support ontological equality, that “all men are created equal.” Liberals support equality of success, that all people deserves all needs and most wants satisfied, at the expense of all production from all others. The former is undeniable, unless one is to revert to caste systems of the benighted past; the latter is impossible, unless one drops the definition of “needs” and “wants” so low as to be obtainable without societal effort.
Liberty and equality are antonyms.
What part of that is confusing to you?
Need to really twist the Constitutional “all men are created equal” a lot to have this article make sense.
Free men are not equal and equal men are not free.
Orthodox Conservatism is little more than a dirty whore.
Foreign adventure with no strategic interest at stake.
Open Borders and the Illegal Invasion.
Free trade that goes only one way.
Just to name a few.
Equality is something to be experienced at the starting line, not the finish.
Here is the part of the quote from Jefferson that you left out:
“For I agree with you that there is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents....There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents; for with these it would belong to the first class.”
Jefferson was explicit in defining “natural aristocracy” as based on “virtues and talents,” not “wealth or class.”
We are unequal in our spirituality (free will and holy or unholy choices) and unequal in talents. But the one with the least talents but the best in love is higher than one with great talents and with a hard heart.
This is only for God to know. Man can not create equality.
Equality of opportunity does not guarantee equality of results.
Take ten minutes out of your busy life and read Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron.” Here’s the lede:
“THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal
before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter
than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was
stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the
211th, 212th, and 213 th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing
vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General....”
Here’s a link: https://archive.org/stream/HarrisonBergeron/Harrison%20Bergeron_djvu.txt
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