Is There More That Divides Conservatives Than Unites Them Flashcards
(4 cards)
Superficially , traditional ad NR conservatives agree on human imperfection
Trad= Burke, the imperfections of humans causes them to band together in supportive communities to which he coined ‘little platoons’. He did not think humans are ruthlessly individualistic, rather they r naturally geared towards forming little communities, as their imperfection compels them to band together in supportive communities to seek security.
As he was writing during the French Revolution, he saw the importance of little platoons as without them, people lose their moral and social foundations, leading to tyranny (napoleon).
Therefore he saw the importance of tradition, since humans r fallible they rely on customs ans accumulated wisdoms of the past to provide ordere.g. Church.
Howver, rand acknowledges human imperfection in name, but ultimately trusts individuals more, especially in economic life. Humans r rational and capable of perfection thru reason and individualism, which allows them to pursue their own econmic interests. Therefore, she rejected burkes definition of HI and collectivism as these obligations eroded their economic freedom which can be explained as she witnessed how the communist state of Russia lead to human misery stating that ‘altruism is evil’.
Overall, Burke see HI thru a pessimistic lens as humans cannot thrive in isolation unlike rand who states that the nature of humans should rely on individual reason not communal bonds to overcome imperfection.
To a large extent New right and 1 nation conservatives disagree on the extent oh how much the state should intervene in the economy
Nozick- role of the state is to intervene as little as possible in relation to the economy as the state encroaches on the lives of citizens as it creates a depends culture where the state ‘owns’ individuals.
Believed that tax is legalised ‘theft’ and that the state should ‘rollback’ its tax and state spending on society to allow indivuala to choose their own destiny and freedom.
Links to core pillar of libertarianism where there should be a negative freedom, whereby individuals should be free from as many extreme constraints possible to allow individuals to become driven by the idea of self ownership of their talent, abilities and labour to which Nozick argues can spur them onto become string econmic actors
One nation, oakeshott believed that state should involve in a pragmatic way when necessary.
Pragmatism- flexible approach to society e decisons made on the basis of what works.
Believed that the state has a nobless oblige to help those below them and contribute to trickle down economy which links to paternalism, whereby individuals should the powerful should rule in the interest of the needy. These 2 pillars could be witnessed in Covid, where countries like the USA and UK agreed to initiate huge state interference in the economy and society that at anytime would be unacceptable.
Neo conservatives and trad fundamentally agree that strong law and order to protect society
Neo= emphasies tng aw and order, they beleive that a strong state is vital in order to protect and fortify the nations border from external threats
E.g. Iraq war 2003, bush and Blair adopted a neo conservative inspired foreign policy to invade Iraq to combat ‘suspected’ terrorism.
Similarly, trad thinker Hobbes believed that a strong law and order is needed to protect society famously stating that life without strong law and order and national conscience would be ‘ nasty, brutish and short’.
He believed that if a state is in control, individual powers will cease and power will be transferred to an all sovereign state, leading to stability.
Overall
All to varying degrees beleive in a string state to protect society, but disagree on how much power is needed for the state to manage HI and what they should prioritise indicualsim or collectivism
