Conservatism

• Traditional Conservative view on Human Nature

  • Morally imperfect; humans are inherently selfish and motivated by desires and impulses, link to idea of 'original sin' in the Bible.
  • Intellectually imperfect; reality is beyond human understanding.
  • Psychologically imperfect; humans are security-driven and socially-dependent, rely on tradition and culture for identity and rootedness.
  • Humans are not rational.
  • The state must protect individuals from their own selfishness.
• Traditional Conservative view of Society

  • Organic Society.
  • Society is hierarchical and unequal.
  • The elite have a paternal responsibility; known as 'noblesse oblige'.
  • Societal change should be gradual, based on; Judaeo-Christian morality, pragmatism, empiricism, and tradition.
• Traditional Conservative view of the Economy

  • Follow classical liberal ideas of Adam Smith, belief that free markets would promote economic security and wealth creation.
• Traditional Conservative views on the State

  • The State regulates human imperfection, acting as a break on individuals' worst instincts.
  • The State has a natural authority to discipline humans by providing order, security, and stability.
  • Ruling class governs in a paternal way; using 'noblesse oblige'.
  • Organic paternalists who seek to solve social instability with benevolent welfarism.
• One-Nation views on Human Nature

  • Pessimistic of Human Nature.
  • Humans are unequal.
  • Humans are morally, psychologically, and intellectually imperfect.
• One Nation views on Society

  • Organic Society.
  • Humans are imperfect but society can mitigate this.
  • Society provides stability and security.
  • Necessary to use pragmatism to address societal problems and prevent societal unrest and violent revolution.
• One Nation views on the Economy

  • Belief in some level of economic welfarism to remedy extreme economic inequalities.
  • Continued with traditional conservative support for free trade and free market capitalism.
  • Belief in private property ownership within the economy.
• One Nation views on the State

  • Ruling class should govern in a paternal manner via 'noblesse oblige'.
  • Post-war era sees emergence of welfare state.
  • Increased welfare provisions to combat social inequality and prevent revolution.
• New Right views on Human Nature

  • Neo-Liberals; positive view on human nature, humans are rational and individualistic.
  • Neo-liberals view that individual rights and freedoms are more important than societal obligations and duties.
  • Neo-Conservative; humans should follow Judaeo-Christian values such as the nuclear family and Christianity.
• New Right views on Society

  • Neo-Liberal; Society is atomistic; society is the sum of all individuals within it.
  • Neo-Liberal; negative freedom and individualism are more important than any societal obligations.
  • Neo-Conservative; organic society based on Christian values such as traditional marriage.
  • Neo-Conservatives advocate anti-permissiveness in society, such as anti-LGBT and anti-abortion.
  • Neo-Conservatives recognise need for 'noblesse oblige' but argue against excessive welfare as creating a 'dependency culture'.
• New Right views on the State

  • Neo-Liberals fear the duties and obligations in the organic state; perceiving them as a threat to freedom.
  • Neo-Liberals believe in 'rolling back the state'.
  • Neo-Conservatives; strong and authoritarian state to enforce law and order - such as Reagan's War on Drugs.
  • Neo-Conservatives; hawkish and interventionist foreign policy such as Thatcher's Falkland War.
• New Right views on the Economy

  • Neo-Liberals; high taxation infringes individual rights and welfare states create a dependency culture.
  • The economy should be a free market.
  • Nationalised industries are inefficient, lacking free-market dynamism and innovation.
  • Friedman argued for Keynesian policies are inflationary, advocated for 'monetarism'.
  • The role of the state in the economy should be to control inflation via public spending cuts.
• Thomas Hobbes

  • Without the structure provided by government, humans would live in a violent 'state of war'.
  • Order could only be achieved via a 'social compact' between the individuals of a society and their monarch.
  • Individuals would cede freedoms to the state in return for legal and physical protection.
  • Life is 'nasty, brutish, and short'.
• Edmund Burke

  • Tradition should be passed down as society is a partnership between 'those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born'.
  • Argued that French Revolution proved the need for 'noblesse oblige' and the rejection of a corrupt aristocracy.
  • Burke advocated for 'change to conserve'.
  • Burke viewed society as being 'little platoons'.
• Michael Oakeshott

  • Rationalism is misplaced as theories often oversimplify complex situations.
  • Critical of leaders who 'act on the authority of his own reason' rather than experience.
  • Change should be pragmatic and empirical - so that 'the cure is not worse than the disease'.
  • Faith in tradition, distrustful of unproven and abstract theories.
  • Opposed violent fascism and communism as examples of flawed rationalism.
• Robert Nozick

  • Miniaturist government with minimal interference in the lives of individuals makes for the best society.
  • Night-watchman state should be 'limited to the narrow functions of force, theft, enforcement of contracts and so on'.
  • Critical of taxation - 'taxation of earnings from labour is on par with forced labour'.
  • Critical of welfare state - 'illegitimate power of the state to enrich some persons at the expense of others'.
• Ayn Rand

  • Belief that society is atomistic; negative freedoms, focus on self-realisation and self-fulfilment.
  • Rejects human imperfection - 'man must be the beneficiary of his own moral actions'.
  • Loathed the organic society; argued it's demands on individuals eroded their freedoms.
  • Belief in 'negative liberty' and 'rolling back the state' both socially and economically.