If America is the last, best hope for the world then the conservative ideology is the last, best hope for America. Conservatives are the conscience of the nation and while the conservative message may be difficult to hear on occasion, it has the inescapable ring of truth about it.
Conservatism is a civilized ideology. It champions substance over symbolism, and common sense over feel-good policies and bumper-sticker slogans. Politics and governance should not just be based on emotional tirades, but on the tried and true as well as a functional understanding of history. Fads and political policies determined by pollsters do not make for a sound society. The United States was founded as a Republic based on the rule of Law, not the whims of the moment. The tyranny of mob rule and the cult of the demagogue must be avoided at all costs.
Conservatism is a thinking mans ideology. It requires understanding and wisdom, research and knowledge, and the ability and willingness to judge right from wrong. It requires a moral compass, a fortitude for righteousness, and above all a love of liberty. To be a true conservative the value of the individual must be nourished and a fierce independence cultivated that can withstand the petty criticisms, persecutions, and mockeries of those who have yet to see the light.
In the end, the balance has to be found between individual freedom and the obligation of the community, the concept of personal liberty and the restraints of morals and values, common sense and the passion of righteous indignation, the need for a Republic and the dangers of democracy, and the embracing of needed chance while respecting the hallowed reverence of tradition.
Conservatism strives for these delicate balances. Its underlying principle have blessed this nation and countless millions across the globe and throughout history with its wisdom, concept of liberty, and value of the individual. It teaches the immortal principles that consequences have actions, freedom comes with responsibility, the individual has intrinsic value, and that there must be stringent restraints on power. Understanding these principles is the key to understanding the conservative ideology and how one should view the world.
The conservative ideology is based on the concept of Natural Law and the rights and sovereignty of the individual. It is the idea that men have inherent, God-given, natural rights and that from the moment of his birth a man is a free and sovereign citizen. The fundamental rights of man are not granted by other men or by laws, but are organic in nature and are self-evident. When government or an ideology attempts to take away these basic rights then they must be opposed or abolished. That is the inherent heart of the conservative ideology and the fertile ground from which springs the concept of liberty.
It is time for a new breed of uncompromising, unapologetic conservatives to rise up in this nation and proclaim the truth.
“But what is liberty without wisdom and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint. Those who know what virtuous liberty is, cannot bear to see it disgraced by incapable heads, on account of their having high-sounding words in their mouths.” – Edmund Burke
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“Liberty is not the freedom to do what you wish, but the freedom to do what you ought.”
– Lord Acton
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“Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites…in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.” – Edmund Burke
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“To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.” – Michael Joseph Oakeshott
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“Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny. It’s the only one. It’s based on thousands of years of human experience. There is nothing narrow about the conservative philosophy. It’s a liberating philosophy. It is a magnificent philosophy. It is a philosophy for the ages, for all times.”
– Mark R. Levin
The Conservative Citizen 
Very well said Dave the Sage! You’ve really nailed things here and I could not agree more with what you say about Conservatism respecting the dignity of the individual and the freedom each person has to not have their God given rights taken away.
It bugs me no end when people, usually those who have fallen for the “war on women” facade, scream about how Conservatives want to take away your freedoms. Um, no we really don’t, quite the opposite actually.
Conservatism can, in my humble opinion, be summed up as the union of personal liberty, personal responsibility, and personal accountability. The three are inseparable, as none works without the other two.
A totally unique and timely piece that is a great reminder of what must be this nation’s way forward.
An excellent post. Too, bad we just can’t get the masses, whose minds have been corrupted with an illegitimate view of Conservatism, to listen.
While I do sympathize with some conservative ideas about fairness and liberty, as a whole conservatism fails to be liberating.
Though there is hypocrisy among most ideas, conservatives define liberty in a narrow sense that allows for tyrannical control of workers by bosses. There isn’t any focus on creating actually free institutions (economies without command-and-obedience structures, schools that promote student autonomy, etc), but merely on the choice between them.
This isn’t even counting social conservatives who advocate for little government control in some areas and then suddenly reverse their stance when confronted with social issues.
Conservatism is a reactionary mess. When there’s police brutality against the Oregon ranchers, they’re concerned. But when Baltimore rose up and rebelled against police violence there, conservatives were quick to insult protestors and rebels. Black folks taking what they’ve needed but have long been denied because of poverty from a CVS store is “destroying the community”.
Where’s the conscience in any of that? Where is the conscience, indeed, in denying women reproductive care or fighting a long battle against the legal rights of LGBT people? I certainly don’t see it!
A very good explanation on what conservatism is and what it’s very harmful alternatives are. However, in today’s world and political environment it would be helpful to explain it in a commoner more everyday man/woman’s language.
This is good for those of us who call ourselves conservative and know what it is. But for those who recently realized they aren’t Republican but conservative or for independent moderates, a simpler, more concise, “back of the napkin” explanation would be more helpful and educational for them.
From what I’ve read here, you are just the “Sage” to write something like that. Good work Sage