Paternalism

• Traditional conservatives, like Edmund Burke, believed in a "natural aristocracy" where the social elite naturally leads society due to innate abilities rather than earned skills.
• the elite leads like a father over his family, exercising authority, providing protection, and offering guidance.
• Those at the top have a duty of care for lower social ranks, acting in the interests of society as a whole.
• 18th-19th Century Paternalism: Some conservative aristocrats improved living conditions for tenants and employees, and engaged in charity work to uphold their duty of care.
• Natural Authority: The wisdom and experience of high-born leaders confer a natural authority since they are believed to "know what is best" for society.
• One-Nation Conservatism: Modern paternalism includes government regulation of the economy and welfare measures to protect the poorest.
• One-nation paternalistic conservatism can be  traced back to the works of Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81), who served as Conservative Prime Minister from 1874 to 1880.
• Disraeli warned that Britain was dividing into two nations — the rich and the poor — and that this increased the likelihood of social revolution. 
• By the mid-20th century, one-nation conservatism in the UK embraced a "middle way" approach, combining government regulation with market mechanisms to achieve economic and social reform.
• Moderate Conservative governments of the 1950s and 1960s, such as Harold Macmillan’s, sought a balance between unregulated markets and state control, aiming to create “private enterprise without selfishness.” This paternalistic stance prioritized improving conditions for poorer groups to reinforce social hierarchy and stability.
• neoliberal wing of the New Right rejects paternalism, advocating minimal state interference to promote a dynamic, self-regulated market.
• Neoliberals argue that government intervention stifles initiative and leads to economic stagnation, while individualism and self-reliance are seen as essential for growth.
• Welfare programs, from their perspective, create dependency and weaken the market's efficiency. This ideological divide highlights a fundamental split within conservatism between state-supported social cohesion and market-driven individualism