Introducing Conservatism
As Russell Kirk observed, one of conservatism's strengths is its tendency to resist definition. Conservatism does not reduce itself to some simple formula. At their best, the people you might call conservatives maintain a stance that is decisively un-ideological.
So what then is conservatism? Answers to that question are as various as the people who reasonably rely on the past wisdom to resist radical re-organizations of society.
Conservatism has its roots in the ancient world. Since 'The Republic of Plato', conservativism has been a series of attempts by rare, cultivated individuals (like Socrates) to induce others to think critically about the complexity of society. The conservative resists the simple formulas of the tyrant, the utopianist or the mob... not to mention the pollster, the sociologist, or the advertiser.
Abraham Lincoln famously described conservatism as the "adherence to the old and tried to the new and untried." In general, this is basically right. However, conservatives need not be opposed to change per se. Simply look at the changes Lincoln committed himself to: the creation of a federal income tax and a modern military, and an end to slavery in the U.S.
When William F. Buckley and the rest of the editors at 'National Review' stand athwart history yelling "Stop!," one has to wonder just what exactly they intend to obstruct. The twentieth century has created a confusion of somewhat contradictory models of conservatism. Ayn Rand and Patrick Buchanan have, for example, virtually nothing in common. Here, are conservatives grouped into three schools of opinion, those who defend traditional moral, cultural, and economic conditions. In reality, these schools of thought frequently overlap.
1. The Moral Order
Defenders of the traditional moral order tend to be Christian, but need not be. Conservative legal scholars and social scientists sometimes represent these moral positions without being overtly religious.
2. Cultural Conservatives
Cultural conservatives are perhaps the group least represented in the mainstream of current conservative opinion. They rather tend to dread the mainstream. Since the time of George Santayana and Henry Adams, they have inclined towards isolation and introversion.
3. Libertarian Economists and Anti-Statists
Conservatism since the beginning of the Cold War has provided a haven for old-fashioned laissez-faire liberals (as opposed to those "liberals" who are radically egalitarian).
In their opposition to statism, conservatives of the past often defended the eccentric individual against the conforming powers of modern society. However, the radical provocateurs of the past few decades have greatly altered the public's perception. Today, people tend to associate conservatism with moral-majority blue-noses. Liberalism, by contrast, appears to be the party of open-armed acceptance.
-Author unknown, but edited by me
