Who are you? Who am I? | Week 44

November | Politics | Week 44 | 11/05/2023 
Liberalism vs Conservatism: Today and Throughout Time

In recent years, much has been written about the differences between conservatism and liberalism in their origins, in their goals and in their outcomes. To briefly summarize the corpus of modern understanding, [1] Liberals tend to be more open to experience/creative while conservatives seem to be more conscientious/orderly, [2] Liberals tend more towards the traditionally feminine while conservatives the traditionally masculine, and [3] age and experience correlate to conservatism while youth and idealism correlate to liberalism, creating a two-sided blade of ossification vs adaptation and order vs chaos. In short, natural disposition and environmental circumstance (nature and nurture) greatly affect one's propensity towards liberalism or conservatism. As the Book of Exodus so aptly describes in the Concept of the Integration of the Fringe, or the Daoist's so aptly abstract with the image of the Yin Yang, both liberalism and conservatism are necessary. 

Let's review the complicated duality of these eternal twin ideas by analyzing recent history. 

It was conservatism that propelled the Meji Restoration and created Emperor Hirohito's militaristic Japan but also conservatism which fueled the military might of America to defeat them in WW2, potentially savings millions of lives. It was liberalism which brought about the necessary reformation of Japan post-war, and liberalism which gave equality to her citizens, but conservatism which now protects the plethora of cultural abundance that makes Japan one of the most unique, most prosperous, most peaceful nations in the world. 

It was liberalism which led to Nazi Germany (National Socialists) and the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) but also liberalism which lead to women's suffrage, equality for African Americans, and religious liberty in America. It is religious conservatism which fuels the Ayatollah and Jihad, yet also religious conservatism which funds the majority of global charity and protects unborn, downtrodden and discarded life. 

It was liberalism which caused the founders to leave Great Britain and sacrifice their lives in pursuit of the highest good, and conservatism which now protects their legacy. That liberalism, which led to the greatest society in the history of Earth, now threatens to destroy it all. That conservatism, which would've prevented potential prosperity and freedom for all, now stands in the way of prosperity and freedom for none. 

I look to this complicated history and contend with my own political and philosophical positions as a result. I accept my natural behavioral and environmental predisposition towards conservatism and simultaneously insist that I'm surrounded by those who would point out my natural blind spots. It is the words of the Father of Modern Conservatism, Sir Roger Scruton, which ring in my head when I begin to wonder why I believe what I do. "Conservatism is more an instinct than an idea. But it's the instinct that I think we all ultimately share, at least if we are happy in this world. It's the instinct to hold on to what we love, to protect it from degradation and violence, and to build our lives around it."