Conservatism

In episode#6 of Dignities and Disasters, Robert MacNaughton and Michael Porcelli tease out the good, the messy middle and the bad of conservatism. Often misconstrued to be aligned with right-wing politics, conservatism emphasizes the value of the past and the wisdoms accrued through it. Whether exploring the idiosyncrasies of folk tales, the quasi-colonialism of modern day politics’ foreign affairs or the inevitable Godwin’s Law, this episode will have you thinking. Some of the topics we explore: - The Conservative Disposition - Heuristics - our rules of thumb and passed down common sense - Grandma’s Ham - Chesterton’s Fence - The Law of Unintended Consequences - Nationalism - Colonialism - Fascism - Religious Rule Show Notes: 07:37 - The conservative disposition 08:20 - Heuristics 11:10 - Chesterton’s Fence 12:00 - Folk wisdom and rules of thumb 14:10 - Hesitate (Scruton’s slogan) 15:50 - Continuity 16:05 - Star Trek Prime Directive 17:02 - Unintended consequences 18:50 - Localism 20:00 - Duty and obligation 21:15 - Civility 23:00 - Moral foundations 24:30 - Tragic vision - Sowell/Pinker 29:40 - The messy middle 32:17 - Grandma’s ham 36:05 - Live caller #1 42:09 - The grapevine telephone 46:05 - Patriotism 46:35 - Enthocentricity 49:34 - Libertarianism 50:09 - Mistrust of experts and Populism 52:35 - Conservatism vs the Right 54:19 - Religious rule 55:07 - Reactionary and neo-reactionary conservatism 56:43 - Neo vs Paleo conservatism 57:33 - Imperialism and colonialism 58:35 - Isolationism 59:40 - Ethno nationalism 1:03:37 - Live caller #2 1:15:29 - Conclusion Cartoon: Our Blessed Kingdom and Their Barbarous Wastes References: How to be a Conservative by Roger Scruton Thomas Sowell - Conflict of visions Jonathan Haidt - The Righteous Mind (Moral Foundations theory) Edmund Burke (1729-1797) - originator of political conservatism as a philosophy