Conservatism

Question 1

What is monetarianism?

Answer 1

System where the government reduces inflation by controlling money supply through cutting public spending. (supply side economics)

Question 2

What was one nation conservatism a reponse to?

Answer 2

Laissez-faire capitalism & industrialisation

Question 3

What is ‘stagflation’?

Answer 3

Mix of inflation, high unemployment, and low demand.

Question 4

What was the neo liberal response in the mid 1970s to the western governments’ use of interventionist policies?

Answer 4

• Thought Keynesianism/welfarism were unable to combat ‘stagflation’
• The free market was the only way to meet consumer demand efficiently, maximise use of resources, and achieve prosperity.

Question 5

What is the neo-liberal view towards inflation?

Answer 5

Inflation is ’greatest evil’ in market economy as it discourages economic activity/ investment.

Question 6

What type of individualism do neo liberals highlight?

Answer 6

Atomic individualism

Question 7

What is atomic individualism?

Answer 7

Individuals are rational, self-interested & self-sufficient.

Question 8

How can individual freedom be achieved?

Answer 8

By rolling back the state and opposing collectivism. Humans, being rational, are then entitled to pursue their own interests.

Question 9

Why do traditional conservatives believe that an organic society must be organised into a hierarchy?

Answer 9

• People do not have same abilities, talents, or energy.
• It is a functional necessity as different people must do different jobs & are rewarded differently depending on contributions.

Question 10

Why should governments embrace welfarism/pragmatism?

Answer 10

• Capitalism encouraged self-interested individualism that undermined the idea of social responsibility, which widens gap between the rich & poor, causing class conflict.
• Organic society depends on paternalism; should embrace social reform or ‘welfarism’ to strengthen unity between traditional ruling class & workers, which offsets the negative effects of capitalism.
• This maintains traditional institutions.
• May: ‘Shared society.’

Question 11

What are the core ideas of conservatism?

Answer 11

• Pragmatism
• Paternalism
• Organic Society
• Tradition
• Libertarianism
• Human imperfection

Question 12

Who are the key thinkers for conservatism?

Answer 12

• Thomas Hobbes
• Edmund Burke
• Michael Oakeshott
• Ayn Rand
• Robert Nozick

Question 13

What key points does Thomas Hobbes make?

Answer 13

• Obedience & absolute government.
• Government established by consent who authorise those in power to preserve order/peace. People jointly submit to an autocratic state (terms ‘leviathan’).
• Created a hypothetical situation called the ’state of nature’ where people were equal & free without obedience to higher authority. Would lead to the ‘natural conditions of mankind; a ‘restless desire’ for power creating conflict & war. Life would become ‘poor, nasty, & short’. People sacrifice rights/freedoms for order & security through a social contract.
• Humans are needy, vulnerable & easily led astray in attempts to understand world. Tend to be distorted by self-interest & the concerns of the moment.

Question 14

Who talks about the ‘state of nature’ and the ‘natural conditions of mankind’?

Answer 14

Hobbes

Question 15

What conservative thinkers are traditional conservatives?

Answer 15

• Thomas Hobbes
• Edmund Burke

Question 16

What key points does Edmund Burke make?

Answer 16

• The state resembled a living organism that may be changed when necessary to preserve political stability & social harmony. Within all ‘organic’ societies, a ruling class is inevitable & desirable.
• Radical change threatens to cut off society’s ‘roots’ leading to social & political breakdown. Tradition & empiricism represent accumulated ‘tested’ wisdom residing in society’s institutions, customs & practices.
• Each generation are obliged to pass this on. It provides a historical identity offering a sense of being ‘rooted’ in society.

Question 17

Who discusses the organic state/society?

Answer 17

Edmund Burke

Question 18

What main ideas does Ayn Rand discuss?

Answer 18

• Roll back the frontiers of the state.’
• Rejected anarchism as free markets & cultural laissez-faire need parameters of a small state. The small state is the strong state’.
• Refers to the negative freedom as the ’non-aggression principle.’
• Calls for ’a pure, unregulated laissez-faire’ economy, as it is morally superior as it respects the individual pursuit of rational self-interest.
• Associated with atomism (a society defined by autonomous individuals each seeking self-fulfilment & realisation). Society does not exist in any practical form, just a loose collection of independent individuals. ‘Right to choose’ in social issues.
• Endorses objectivism as rational pursuit of self-interest as moral. Should be guided by self-interest & ‘rational self-fulfilment.’ Condemns personal altruism as it creates ‘artificial’ sense of obligation & expectation that did not accord with rational self-interest.

Question 19

What does Oakeshott discuss?

Answer 19

• Actions should be guided by pragmatism. Politics can only be successful if it accommodated existing traditions, practises & prejudices.
• Modern society is unpredictable and complex. ‘Rational’ attempts to make sense of society’s behaviour distorts & oversimplifies.
• State exists to ‘prevent the bad rather than create the good’. Too ‘keep the ship afloat… use experience to negotiate… & stoicism to accept necessary changes.’
• Pragmatism is flexible and maintains social stability & cohesion by emphasising moderation & cautious change. ‘Prefer the familiar to the unknown, tried to the untried’.
• Most people are ‘fallible but not terrible’ & ‘imperfect but not immoral.’ People are capable of evil, dependent, and insecure.

Question 20

What does Robert Nozick discuss?

Answer 20

• Only morally justified state is a ‘night watchman’ state with powers necessary to protect people against violence, theft & fraud.
• Monarchist state (mainly outsourcing public services to private companies) which would allow self-sufficient communities to merge alongside the extension of individual freedom.
• Communities would be free to practise its moral codes & values. Preservation of life, liberty & property ‘could not be taken for granted’ without some formal authority enforcing laws.
• ‘Tax, for the most part, is theft.’ Individuals own their bodies, talents, abilities, & labour (self-ownership).
• Individuals should be ‘left alone’ in the social & cultural spheres. Libertarians are tolerant of a liberal ‘permissive society’ & take a relaxed view on issues like abortion, divorce, & homosexuality.
• Optimistic, egotistical view on human nature.

Question 21

Who talks emphasises a night watchman, minimal state, and individual rights?

Answer 21

Robert Nozick

Question 22

Who emphasises laissez-faire capitalism, objectivism, and atomism?

Answer 22

Ayn Rand

Question 23

Who said the state should ‘prevent the bad rather than create the good’?

Answer 23

Michael Oakeshott

Question 24

What is atomism in the context of society?

Answer 24

• A society defined by autonomous individuals each seeking self-fulfilment & realisation.
• Society does not exist in any practical form, just a loose collection of independent individuals.

Question 25

What is an autocratic state?

Answer 25

Tyrannical, have absolute power

Question 26

What is anarchism?

Answer 26

Skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessarily limited to, governments, nation states, and capitalism.

Question 27

What does Ayn Rand mean by advocating objectivism?

Answer 27

• A system that advocates the virtues of rational self interest.
• We should be guided by self-interest & ‘rational self-fulfilment.’

Question 28

What is altruism?

Answer 28

Disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.