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Conservatisms

A few days ago in Liberalism 5.0? I commended two articles by Walter Russell Mean on the past and future of liberalism, pointing out what I thought (and think) are two major gaps in them: there were no conservatives present; and he mistakenly assumes that today's liberals are the same breed (belong in the same version number) as New Deal-era liberals.

For a long and thoughtful look on the other side of the street, I now commend James Piereson?s Conservative Nation, on the development of modern American conservatism(s).

Following is one snippet I find particularly suggestive, but you should read the whole thing because the following is more an aside than a summary of his argument:

Despite their many successes and the growth of their cause, most conservatives still think of themselves as an embattled minority fighting a proud and insulated establishment. Shut out of liberal institutions, such as elite-college faculties and the national press, along with mainline churches and even government itself, conservatives have set up their own counterinstitutions in the form of think tanks, radio and television networks, magazines, book publishers, citizen associations, charitable foundations, newspapers, and even a few colleges with conservative faculty and curricula. Within this framework, conservatives attend meetings and conferences, form friendships and associations, and develop and exchange ideas without ever having to come in contact with liberals (in this sense, emulating in reverse liberal-college faculties and journalistic associations). From these redoubts, they rally the public against the liberal establishment, often with impressive success and much to the alarm of liberal critics who are prone to view them as dangerous radicals.

Conservatives have in this way created their own ?nation? within the nation, replete with its own culture, institutions and prominent personalities. In past generations, class, ethnic, religious and regional cultures have placed their stamps on parties and cause-oriented movements. Rarely has a philosophical orientation in politics been able to shape a unique culture. This is what allows conservatives to span boundaries and borders?be they social or geographical.

Piereson doesn?t make this point, but insofar as conservatives have developed a culture (anthropologists, take note!) of their own, shouldn?t they be represented everywhere the cult of multiculturalism reigns?

Full post as published by Discriminations on December 20, 2010 (boomark / email).