Conservatism in its Simplest Form

I’m always moved by new places. Ever since politics became my obsession, I’ve gained just about the deepest possible sense of adoration for this country. Case in point, on every new and exciting excursion I go on, I can’t help but marvel at the infrastructure, and the utter precision, perseverance, and unapologetically American mindset it was built with. 

In other words, yes. “Infrastructure” is the most common word I think of when traveling. 

Earlier this month, I took a class trip to Morningside Heights, Manhattan. The focal point of this trip was a vertical tour of St. John the Divine, the largest non-Catholic cathedral on the continent. The moment we approached the church’s vestibule, as classmates complained of the windy 38 degree temperature, I admired the flying buttresses, gargoyles, and stained glass, and made my most consequential revelation yet. 

I know well enough the plights of various Conservative figures to boil Conservatism down to “3 easy steps” or “7 core principles”, and while they may make sense to the political theory nerds, they don’t attract the political newcomer (no offense, Mike Johnson, but while I may know all seven, someone just feeling out the field of politics may be paralyzed by the fancy words included under the categories.)

Despite Conservatism’s many conditions and clauses, it's not a difficult philosophy to grasp. Simply put, true Conservatism is coming to know The Beautiful, coming to love The Beautiful, and when it’s under attack, defending The Beautiful at all costs, and over "Ideological-izing" it has proven detrimental to the future of the movement.

Conservatism is knowing that although there is no black-and-white, copy-and-paste definition of beauty, there is an objective standard, as whatever brings The Beautiful too brings The Good and The True along with it. Even Socrates posed somewhat of a circular definition of it by describing "anything beautiful is beautiful by the Beautiful," however he knew that it still played an important role in society, and could be somewhat qualified by human expression.

All of America’s most influential Conservative leaders are not only known for their opinions on government spending or foreign policy, but are also known for having unquenchable affinities for matters of a higher order as well (e.g. William F. Buckley Jr. with Bach or Antonin Scalia with opera). All men as great as Bach aficionado William F. Buckley Jr., or opera fanatic Antonin Scalia know that Conservatism is not simply about winning  cultural battles, condemned as obscure by the Twitter laity, but that they matter because the way society conducts itself is crucial to the vitality of the nation. 

Of course, it’s not impossible for someone to the left of Ben Shapiro to have an interest in anything even loosely rooted in tradition. After all, the 2015 opera created for Scalia was also created for his colleague, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, fellow enthusiast of the art. However, there is a low chance that the second female SCOTUS justice would have the same adoration for the art if it had been obvious that the premise of it  obviously supports Western gender roles or the sanctity of all innocent life. This is why Conservatives are more commonly known to have a longstanding reverence for traditional religions or crooner classics. 

Additionally, Catholic Conservative political commentator Michael Knowles, points out that the only distinction between Liberalism and Leftism is that the latter is simply the result of when the former is allowed to run unbridled through a society. 

Sadly, the most obvious example of such unrest is not an issue restrained to one country, but is a worldwide phenomenon. The boundaries of marriage were universally understood and accepted until around 20 years ago when the first gay couple wanted the experience straight couples had. Almost immediately launching a full-scale coup on the institution, Liberals attempted to change marriage’s definition and purpose, while Conservatives, knowing the beauty of the sacred and permanent union between two people of the opposite sex, fought for the preservation of the fundamental political institution. 

Conservatives learn to use The Beautiful as a guide to a purposeful life, Liberals simply tolerate its presence, and Leftism launches crusades against  it when it conflicts with the most recent disordered desires of man. 

It is impossible to love The Beautiful while simultaneously wanting to destroy it and replace it with what modernism deems to be more appealing at that moment in history. This is what true Conservatives fight against, as the movement knows the importance of using tradition as a guide, and not prioritizing the individual to the point that whatever gets in his way must be condemned as “racist” or “sexist,” and be immediately erased from the polity’s conscience. 

At the end of the day, this is why a common saying among Conservatives is that young people will eventually “grow out of their Liberalism.” It is subconsciously understood that as people mature, they awaken their senses to different things, including why society is structured the way it (generally) always has been. History class commonly paints Conservatives as tired vampires who immediately shrivel up upon hearing the word “change” muttered. Though all three Judeo-Christian transcendentals, (The Good, True and Beautiful) are central to the Conservative movement, it is the latter that true Conservatives hold most dear, and fight for every single day.