{"id":2137533,"date":"2024-01-01T03:55:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T08:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/russell-kirk-warned-that-without-virtue-democracy-is-a-dead-end-here-and-abroad\/"},"modified":"2024-01-01T04:03:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T09:03:09","slug":"russell-kirk-warned-that-without-virtue-democracy-is-a-dead-end-here-and-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/russell-kirk-warned-that-without-virtue-democracy-is-a-dead-end-here-and-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell Kirk cautioned that without virtue, &#8216;democracy&#8217; leads nowhere, both domestically and internationally"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frussell-kirk-warned-that-without-virtue-democracy-is-a-dead-end-here-and-abroad%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2137533&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>While a handful of writers and\u200d thinkers\u2063 before\u2063 him had\u200d adopted the term \u201cconservative\u201d and promoted it in their writings, like Peter Viereck in the 1940s, it was the publication of Russell Kirk\u2019s <em>The Conservative Mind<\/em> in\u200c 1953 that brought the term \u200dinto public \u200cparlance and prominence.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Federici gives a brief but\u200b insightful introduction to the newly rereleased version of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Politics-Prudence-Gateway-Editions\/dp\/1684515319\"><em>The Politics of Prudence<\/em><\/a>,\u200c Kirk\u2019s\u200c collection of essays first published in 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union and \u200cthe end of the Cold War. The work attempted \u2064to present conservatism anew\u2063 in an age now free from the ideological \u2063struggle of the\u200c Cold\u2063 War.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Conservative Character<\/h2>\n<p>Federici notes that Kirk understood conservatism to be \u200c\u201ca\u2063 disposition of character rather than a collection of\u2064 reified, abstract political doctrines. \u200cIt is \u2062the\u2062 rejection of ideology rather than\u2063 the exercise\u2062 of it.\u201d This, too, is the understanding of conservatism laid out by the champion of\u2062 conservatism in the\u200c 21st \u200dcentury, my\u200d former \u2063teacher Sir Roger Scruton.<\/p>\n<p>This understanding may \u200chelp one realize why conservatism fails as an ideology \u2014 because it is not an ideology. As Kirk humorously notes early on in one \u200dof the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/theres-something-about-mary\/\" title=\"There\u2019s Something About Mary\">early chapters<\/a> of this book, \u2062conservatives who attempt to ideologize conservatism\u2062 make the first and most egregious\u2063 error in understanding conservatism.<\/p>\n<p>If, though, conservatives are\u200b united in \u201ca disposition of character\u201d and \u200b\u201crejection of ideology,\u201d what is that \u201cdisposition\u201d and what\u2064 does the \u201crejection of \u200bideology\u201d entail?<\/p>\n<p>Let us turn first to the character and disposition of the conservative as Kirk defines them. First \u2062and foremost, \u201cthe conservative finds himself in \u200crealm of mystery and wonder, where \u2062duty, discipline, and\u2063 sacrifice are required.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Second, the conservative accepts that the cosmos is governed by a transcendent moral order. This \u2063transcendent moral\u200b order \u2064serves as the \u2062basis of the\u200d mystery and \u200dwonder \u2062of \u200bexistence, which makes possible the life of love. This disposition \u2062of love that guides conservatives is \u200dopposed to the modernist view of existence, \u201can arid and loveless realm\u201d that \u201cis a stage for the ego, with\u200b its appetites\u200d and self-assertive passions.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Against Ideology and Centralized Power<\/h2>\n<p>Next, the rejection of\u200d ideology is principally opposed to\u2062 the double threat of \u200c\u201can earthly paradise\u201d and \u200b\u201ccentralized power,\u201d which motivate totalitarian impulses.<\/p>\n<p>Three of the\u200c chapters,\u200d originally lectures given by Kirk, illustrate these ideas. First, \u2064\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/kirkcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/attachments\/149150chap1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Errors of Ideology<\/a>\u201d explores the ideologue\u2019s outlook and \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/covid-19-killed-14-of-new-yorks-nursing-home-population\/\" title=\"COVID-19 Killed 14% Of New York\u2019s Nursing Home Population\">disastrous policies<\/a>. The ideologue, Kirk explains, \u201cthinks of politics as a \u200brevolutionary instrument for transforming society and even transforming human nature.\u201d This outlook\u2063 and ideological construction of politics is what the conservative rejects.<\/p>\n<p>Second,\u2063 Kirk\u2019s brief but illuminating reflection on \u201cThe Politics of T.S. Eliot\u201d helps the reader understand more fully the conservative disposition. The life and\u200d writings of\u2064 Eliot reveal the conservative\u2019s distrust of \u200d\u201ccentralized power\u201d in any form, be it under \u201ccapitalism\u201d or \u201csocialism\u201d or any other <em>ism<\/em>. The destruction \u2062of ethics\u200c and theology by practical utilitarianism has caused the despotism of merciless and heartless politics.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We \u200care told, repeatedly,\u200b to keep God and morality\u200d out of politics. Yet, as Eliot insisted, society is\u200c bound \u200btogether \u200cby \u2062common religion \u200cand a\u200d common ethical outlook. Without the recovery of the ethics\u200c of kindness and\u2063 compassion, rooted in\u200c the Christian God, Western society runs to its \u2064own destruction under\u2064 \u201cthe cult\u200d of the colossal.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Neocons Now \u200dand Then<\/h2>\n<p>A\u200c final\u2063 noteworthy chapter is Kirk\u2019s assessment of\u2064 the neoconservatives. This is a timely read\u2062 today\u2063 because the term neoconservative \u2014 often employed as a \u200bpejorative simply as \u201cneocon\u201d \u2014 has shifted wildly over the decades.\u200c But as Kirk shows, \u200bthe original neoconservatives were, in fact, conservative during the Cold War.<\/p>\n<p>The neoconservatives stood \u200don\u200c the side of ordered liberty and civil society against encroaching bureaucratism in the 1960s, \u20631970s, and 1980s. Their\u2062 founding and promotion of\u2063 new journals, magazines, and eventual placement in serious \u200cnewspapers of record showed the world, especially the scornful halls of academia, that conservatives could be quite intelligent, cultured, and \u200dmild-mannered \u2014\u2063 hardly the bores and vulgar imbeciles stereotyped by liberal academics\u200d and journalists. Lastly, the neoconservatives understood the grave danger of global communism at a time when many public intellectuals, writers, and\u200d even government officials \u2062in the United \u2063States wanted to back down from containment \u2062and sought\u2064 rapprochement with the Soviets.<\/p>\n<p>The neoconservatives were hardly the evil and sinister \u201cneocons\u201d of today\u2019s polemical\u200d rhetoric. At the \u200dsame time, Kirk also\u2063 ended \u2062this chapter with the suspicion that they were changing into ideologues of imperialism, globalism, \u2064and \u201cdemocratism.\u201d Having written and lectured on this in \u200cthe 1990s,\u2062 Kirk was startlingly perceptive \u200con where neoconservatives were going. If Kirk were \u200calive today, he would agree with those who are now critical \u200dof the neocons for having \u200babandoned their conservatism in favor\u2064 of \u200dan \u2063imperialistic\u200d and globalist ideology.<\/p>\n<h2>Conservatism and Culture<\/h2>\n<p>In looking over the basic essence of Kirk\u2019s\u200c writings,\u200b Federici\u200b states, \u201cCulture, not politics or political power, \u2062is the first concern of the conservative.\u201d This too is Scruton\u2019s defense \u200bof \u2064conservatism and culture. But we must ask: What is culture?<\/p>\n<p>Kirk \u2064defines culture as \u2062customs and\u2064 traditions that operate in \u200csociety. \u2062Culture \u200dis the emotional and ethical wisdom that customs and traditions within society communicate. They \u2064principally communicate through art, music,\u200c literature (especially poetry), and spiritual practices \u2062that teach us emotional\u200d and \u200bethical wisdom.<\/p>\n<p>The conservative, then, is concerned \u200cwith preserving the wisdom \u2062of relational love that has been passed down generationally and developed by great thinkers, great artists, and great writers. This understanding of \u200bconservatism is broad \u200bin scope and invites those of\u200b us who may otherwise not share in \u2063conservative politics to be included \u200din its ranks. And\u200c as Kirk implies throughout, there really isn\u2019t \u2063an ideology of conservatism precisely because conservatism is \u2064not ideological in its political construction.<\/p>\n<p>The latest edition of <em>The Politics of\u200c Prudence<\/em> \u2064is a worthwhile read, especially for a conservative movement adrift\u2062 in the age of \u201cdemocratism.\u201d Kirk\u2064 reminds readers \u2063who have not \u200byet been indoctrinated into that ideology that \u200cdemocracy can be tyrannical too. There is nothing intrinsically noble\u2062 about \u200bdemocracy \u2014 what makes a democracy noble is the \u200dvirtuous citizens in a democracy.<\/p>\n<p>Out of the ashes of democratic decline lay\u2063 the possibility for democratic \u200crenewal with the recovery of that ethical,\u200d theological, and emotional wisdom to begin building again \u2062a\u2063 humane \u200csociety rooted in awe, wonder,\u2062 and\u2062 love.\u2063 That is\u2062 the struggle \u200dof the conservative \u200bin the 21st century.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"> <\/p>\n<h2> What role does a transcendent moral order play \u200din Kirk&#8217;s concept of conservatism?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Ned their conservative principles and embracing interventionist foreign policies.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, Kirk\u2019s <em>The \u200bPolitics of Prudence<\/em> offers a deep and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/all-empires-fall-chilling-civil-war-trailer-shows-dystopian-divided-america\/\" title=\"Dystopian America: 'Civil War' Trailer Reveals the Fall of Empires\">thought-provoking\u200c exploration<\/a> of\u200c conservatism as a\u200c disposition of character rather than an\u2063 ideology. It upholds the rejection of ideology and centralized power,\u200d while emphasizing the importance of a \u2064transcendent \u2063moral order and the preservation of ethics and theology\u200c in society. Additionally, \u200bthe book\u200d sheds\u200c light on the original neoconservatives and their contribution \u200bto \u2063conservatism during the Cold War, while also raising concerns about their\u200d later ideological shift.\u200d Overall, this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chris-rufo-new-book-lays-out-road-map-for-returning-to-sanity-in-our-schools\/\" title=\"Chris Rufo: New Book Lays Out \u2018Road Map For Returning To Sanity In Our Schools\u2019\">book serves<\/a> as a valuable resource for understanding the \u2063essence of conservatism \u200band\u2062 its relevance in\u2064 today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To the impact of Kirk&#8217;s book in popularizing the term &#8220;conservative&#8221; in his concise analysis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":2137534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2137533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2137533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2137533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2137533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2137534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2137533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2137533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2137533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}