Valley Gardens, I., Herrogate, England
[Detail of image from Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division: LC-DIG-ppmsc-08423]
Per Scriptum E. Wesley – Mackinac Center Intern
Prologue:
My friend Master Bringe has posted on his blog, “For Christ’s Kingdom,” a list of books he is reading and asked others to inform him of their reading lists. I have just finished Russell Kirk’s “The Politics of Prudence,” and found it to be in keeping with much of what I study and admire in Western culture. His book comprehensively defines modern American conservatism provides a history of conservative thought, and describes historic and contemporary challenges to conservative preservation of a Christian society. The following is a synopsis and review of Kirk’s last masterpiece published while he yet lived.
Kirk’s first two chapters, titled “The Errors of Ideology” and “Ten Conservative Principles,” contrast conservative thought with other political systems. In “The Errors of Ideology,” Kirk exhorts his readers to avoid ideological politics.1 Ideology, or utopian politics, falsely promises earthly paradise, but only delivers disaster.2 Kirk provides America’s faith in democracy as an example.3 The vices of ideology are threefold. First, ideology inverts religion by promising salvation in earthly revolution rather than by the Christian doctrine of grace in death.4 Second, ideology excludes the possibility of compromise of any kind, causing the ostracizing of “reactionaries,” civil wars and the destruction of useful institutions in society.5 Third, ideologues endlessly compete with each other for an imaginary loyalty to their cause.6 By contrast, the prudential conservative is allied to convention, and knows that his job is to preserve order and the “Permanent Things” that allow a society to exist.7 His virtues include “prudence, temperance, compromise, the traditions of civility, or cultural patrimony.”8 He looks ahead before making a decision and attempts only the possible.9
In, “Ten Conservative Principles,” Kirk describes contemporary conservative expressions of convictions, but because conservatives are not ideologues and somewhat culturally contextual, he allows for flexibility in the way conservatives frame their views.10 Present conservative principles include an acknowledgment of permanent moral order; a respect for convention, continuity and tradition; a belief in the advantages of the prescriptive wisdom of those who have gone on before; a virtue of prudence, or the act of often slow and deliberate change; an attentiveness towards social variety; a creed that human nature is flawed; a conviction that freedom and private property go hand in hand; an admiration for voluntary community and distaste for collectivism; a desire to restrain power and human passions; and finally, an understanding for both permanence and change in society.11 Redefining the political spectrum along conservative lines, Kirk references Eric Voegelin’s statement that political demarcations are not between totalitarians on one side and liberals on the other, but rather between those who only live for temporal order and those who admit a permanent moral order, enduring human nature, and duties to the spiritual order as well as the temporal order.12 Hence, conservatives do not offer a paradise for this earth, but are satisfied to politically work for only what is realistic while praying for the rest.13 Kirk’s first two chapters reveal to pilgrims seeking wisdom in politics the strait and narrow path of conservative prudence and the dangers of taking the ideological byways to cultural disaster.
In chapters three, four and five, Kirk lists 10 events momentous for the conservative cause, 10 conservative books and 10 recognizable conservatives. Historical landmarks of conservatism include the signing of the Constitution, Edmund Burke’s last exhortation before passing into eternity in 1797, John Randolph’s speech before the House of Representatives in 1824, the 1848 publication of Orestes Brownson’s essay “Socialism and the Church,” Disraeli’s speech at the Guildhall in 1867, a brief eastern and central European resistance to Marxism after WWI against the Mordor of Moscow, the defeat of Nazism in WWII, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s exile from Russia and his 1983 Templeton Address, John Paul II’s Papal election, and Ronald Reagan’s election.14 These 10 incidents stand in marked contrast to the 20th century’s “time of troubles” begun in 1914. Kirk hopes for a conservative stand in the 21st century.16 My sentiments are less certain, as the future of Western civilization under its present progressive course will bear grief rather than renewal. As J. R. R. Tolkien wrote, such predictive perception “is the sorrow of the wise.” 17
In listing 10 conservative books and individuals, Kirk realizes that conservatism is not limited to books or certain individuals, but rather acknowledges that such literature is an expression of true conservative thought and these heroes are only his personal choices.18 Kirk’s book list contains, Burke’s “Reflections on the Revolution in France,” Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America,” James Fenimore Cooper’s “The American Democrat,” Brownson’s “The American Republic,” James Fitzjames Stephen’s “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” W. H. Mallock’s “Is Life Worth Living?,” Irving Babbitt’s “Democracy and Leadership,” Donald Davidson’s “The Attack on Leviathan,” Wilhelm Roepke’s “The Social Crisis of Our Time,” and T. S. Eliot’s “Notes Towards the Definition of Culture.”19 Kirk points out that since serious readers generally exist within the conservative camp and liberals tend to use more progressive media, these books might consequently be more useful today than they ever were.20 Kirk’s conservative heroes are Marcus Cicero, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Samuel Johnson, Sir Walter Scott, John Randolph, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Theodore Roosevelt, Joseph Conrad, Richard Weaver and Freya Stark.21 Here, Kirk gives his personal list. Every conservative has his own list, yet Walter Scott is a choice that I heartily commend. Scott’s works not only invigorated the Western world with chivalry for a century, but also are especial favorites of mine. Outside of John Milton, I vote Walter Scott as the greatest author of the English language.
Kirk turns next to certain individuals, in addition to his previous list, who defended the roots of Western civilization. Chapter six describes the life and politics of T. S. Eliot. According to Kirk, Eliot opposed centralization in an era when his contemporaries like George Bernard Shaw turned to political ideology.22 For Eliot, the Western civilization could not long last without Christianity.23 Other preservers of western civilization in America were the southern conservatives and Donald Davidson. Surrounded with a changing America, Davidson became a champion for an agricultural economy over industrialization.24 Although he admitted it impossible to turn the clock back, he believed that many Futurists were committing an equally illogical fallacy for striving for a future divorced from the past.25 The 12 Southerners who wrote “I’ll Take My Stand” likewise criticize the worship of materialism and progress, and challenge readers to preserve the tranquility of the old South.26 Returning to Roepke in chapter eight, Kirk reveals Roepke as the primary restorer of Germany’s economy after WWII.27 Roepke believed in a “humane economy,” or an economy that matched the scale and nature of humans within that economy as opposed to an economy based solely on production.28 For a more aggressive hero, Kirk mentions Malcolm Muggeridge’s criticisms of liberalism. Muggeridge connects the ills of Moscow with liberal roots such as the Darwinian false gospel of instant and inescapable progress.29 Kirk’s readers may find a common thread through these defenders of conservatism; they all acknowledged that there must be unalterable truths worth preserving that render humanity constant as technology changes.
Chapters 10 through 13 analyze four forms of politics generally viewed as part of the Right: popular conservatism, libertarianism, neo-conservatism and cultural conservatism. Kirk identifies popular conservatism as an American preference for the difficulties of the present political system over the unforeseen problems of disruptive political change.30 Typical American conservatives, Kirk claims, hold to at least six inclinations: a religious view of man instead of secular, a dislike for centralization, loyalty to the Constitution, a resistance to political ideologies, belief in private property and respect for personal rights.31 Less popular are the libertarians, although since the tea party movement libertarians have taken on a larger following from the Right than ever before. Kirk asserts that ultimately libertarians are overly utilitarian.32 Once again, Kirk insists that instead of the political spectrum being between absolute totalitarianism and absolute libertarianism, the more important line is between those who respect moral order and those who only concern themselves with our “ephemeral existence.”33 Although harsh, Kirk does admit that some libertarians do respect moral order.34 After libertarianism, Kirk looks to neo and cultural conservatives. Kirk praises neo-conservatives for their hard line against communism in the 20th century, but criticizes their short term and idealistic thinking.35 By contrast, Kirk describes the cultural conservatives as understanding the history of American culture as it relates to Christianty.36 They believe that American culture was formed from a Hebraic, classical and Christian heritage, and wish to renew American mores in society.37 These four groups bring Kirk to a few contemporary issues and some application.
Kirk gives his readers some advice in his closing chapters, including guidance on foreign policy, warnings against centralization, methods for improving the education system and some suggestions on how to curtail the growth of proletariat citizens who through laziness waste the nation’s resources. In chapter 18, Kirk cautions against an overextended hope in the American system of politics, and argues that political systems must match the culture, beliefs and ancient laws of a people before they are suitable.38 Closer to home, Kirk advises in his last chapter to live lives that improve ourselves and neighborhoods.39 “The Politics of Prudence” is a magnum opus. Complete with personal application, readers walk away with an understanding of the significance of preserving the landmarks of our heritage. It is the first political analysis I’ve yet seen to address all areas of life.
Notes:
1. Russell Kirk, The Politics of Prudence (Wilmington: ISI Books, 2004), 1.
2. Ibid, 5.
3. Ibid, 8.
4. Ibid, 5.
5. Ibid, 5-6.
6. Ibid, 6.
7. Ibid, 11, 14.
8. Ibid, 13.
9. Ibid, 9.
10. Ibid, 16-17.
11. Ibid, 17-24.
12. Ibid, 28-29.
13. Ibid, 29.
14. Ibid, 34-40.
15. Ibid, 42.
16. Ibid.
17. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lay of Leithian,
http://aandachtuit.nl/esgalduin/leithian4.html (accessed June 3, 2011),
Canto VI, Line 1272.
18. Kirk, Politics, 44, 63.
19. Ibid, 50-56.
20. Ibid, 60-61.
21. Ibid, 64-76.
22. Ibid, 84-85.
23. Ibid, 95.
24. Ibid, 99, 101.
25. Ibid, 105.
26. Ibid, 108.
27. Ibid, 114.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid, 131-132.
30. Ibid, 144-145.
31. Ibid, 147-148.
32. Ibid, 167.
33. Ibid, 166-167.
34. Ibid, 157.
35. Ibid, 178, 179, 183.
36. Ibid, 194-195.
37. Ibid, 192.
38. Ibid, 273-275.
39. Ibid, 287.
Bibliography
Kirk, Russell. The Politics of Prudence. Wilmington: ISI Books, 2004.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lay of Leithian.
http://aandachtuit.nl/esgalduin/leithian4.html (accessed June 3, 2011).
