Ongoing Debate Over the Word ‘Conservative’ | Eastern NC Now

Jay Nordlinger of National Review Online ponders the meaning of an important term.

ENCNow
Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Mitch Kokai.

    Jay Nordlinger of National Review Online ponders the meaning of an important term.

  • Twenty-five years ago, I met Scott Morris, when we both worked at The Weekly Standard. He asked, "What kind of conservative are you? What is the basis of your conservatism?" I attempted a couple of answers, which did not satisfy him. Scott was an intellectual, who had studied philosophy, including over in Oxford.
  • Finally, I said to him, "Look, Scott, I'm a simple fellow: I just hate the Reds. Hate, hate, hate the Reds." He laughed and laughed, and let me off the hook, for a while.
  • I had made a serious point, however. George F. Will says that the first thing a conservative is, is anti-Left.
  • His friend William F. Buckley Jr. traveled the country for more than 50 years, giving talks. Most of these talks had Q&A periods. The most frequent question he got was, "What is a conservative? Can you define 'conservatism'?" WFB always had trouble with this, believe it or not. He often said that conservatism was more of a mindset, or disposition, than a doctrine or program.
  • George Will has titled his most recent book "The Conservative Sensibility." He also asks a basic, mandatory question: "What are conservatives trying to conserve?" His answer, for American conservatives, is: our Founding. ...
  • ... First come rights — our natural rights — and then comes government. It is the job of government to secure our rights.
  • George Will is not everyone's cup of tea, of course, because no one is. (Neither is the Founding.) I know people on the right who insist that Will is not a conservative at all. I know others who think that Will is the living, breathing embodiment of conservatism. "Your mileage may vary," as I see on social media.
  • Conservatism has long been a house of many mansions, and maybe too many.

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published )
Enter Your Comment ( text only please )




Panning the Election ‘Expert’ Predictions John Locke Foundation Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics Did You Know? for Some Post-Graduate Plans, Employer Tuition Reimbursements Is the Way


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

Beaufort County residents deserve lower taxes and should demand them from government.
Two years ago, new media brought President Trump back to the White House. What happened?
Provincial governments in Alberta and Saskatchewan refuse to cooperate with federal gov.t
The POLITICO poll found that almost half of respondents think Hollywood players should "be less vocal with their political beliefs."

HbAD1

"Pay no attention to the folks behind the curtain" was their preference but things are beginning to come to light.
Understanding how parties work is important for making informed decisions regarding elected officials.
"They help cultivate a radical hate America agenda, and we can't afford that same toxic ideology in America's War Department.”
The attack comes amid a heightened concern over terror attacks after President Donald Trump launched "Operation Epic Fury" in Iran.

HbAD2

illegal alien "asylum seeker" migrants are a crime wave on both sides of the Atlantic
Spanberger signed HB167, the law that eliminated the tax exemption for various confederacy-linked groups

HbAD3

 
 
Back to Top