Henry Imler February 28th, 2006

Are you a conservative? Russell Kirk gives 10 principles that
conservatism lives by. See how many you identify with using a quarter
scale (1 absolutely yes, 0 absolutely no, .25 kinda, .50 mainly, .75
almost completely).

Ten Conservative Principles
Here they are:

1. The conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order.
2. The conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity.
3. Conservatives believe in what may be called the principle of prescription.
4. Conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence.
5. Conservatives pay attention to the principle of variety.
6. Conservatives are chastened by their principle of imperfectability.
7. Conservatives are persuaded that freedom and property are closely linked.
8. Conservatives uphold voluntary community, quite as they oppose involuntary collectivism.
9. The conservative perceives the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions.
10. The thinking conservative understands that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society.

How did you come out? Here are my answers:

1. 1 - I do believe firmly in a God-given morality. How we figure out what that morality is in practice is up for debate, but that does not lessen my belief in the source.
2. 0.25 - Our customs might be wrong, there might be better ways to do things. Kirk talks about “the devil we know being better than the devil we don’t know“;
   who says we have to know the devil at all? I’ll gamble on a better
   future any day of the week. I take exception to the field of law in
   general.
3. 0.0 - Kirk says “Conservatives argue that we are unlikely, we moderns, to make any brave new discoveries in morals or politics or taste.” See #2 above.
4. 1 - “Any public measure ought to be judged by its probable long-run consequences, not merely by temporary advantage or popularity.”
   - Absolutely. It is almost ironic that he immediately goes into a hasty
   generalization about liberals in the very next sentence. That aside, I
   still agree wholly to that statement.
5. 0.50
   - He talks about different classes and inequality being necessary in a
   society. I am not sure about how he thinks it is necessary. I think
   that inequality and classes are inevitable. The variance in the
   occurrence of talent and drive will secure that independent of the
   social structure. I like that part about God and the court of law being
   the only two true sources of equality.
6. 0.50 - We are imperfect, but that is no reason not to strive for the perfect society. While utopia may never be reached, it can always be our goal and our hope.
7. 0.75
   - I strongly feel that personal property is heavily tied to freedom and
   that a successful society must be based on this. However, I can give no
   reason for land ownership philosophically. Why do you own
   this parcel of land? ‘Cause you were here first? Why are you rich?
   Because your dad was rich? That does not seem fair. Yet, I think that
   it sould be your land and that people should be able to pass along
   their possessions to their family.
8. 1 -
   In accordance with love and liberty, the two highest ideals I must say
   that we should take part in the community; at the same time we should
   not force people to take part. God does not force us to acknowledge
   him, yet we should if we know what is good for us.
9. 0.50 - While we should act in way X, we should let people act in way Y. See #8.
10. 0.50 - Agree in principle, but the argument against progressivism leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Final Talley: I am 60% percent conservative. You?

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