Edmund Burke (1729 - 1798) was an Irish peer and parliamentarian best known in America for his sympathy for the American Revolution. However, Burke's sympathies for the underdog did not end with American revolutionaries, as he also was supportive of Irish Catholics and east Indians.
Burke was a thinker of no little depth, and is often credited with being, in the English-speaking world, the source of modern conservatism. For Burke, the foundation of society was property, as property resulted in a salutary alignment of classes which served as a checkmate against monarchical power. For society as a whole, the sources of progress were curiosity, pleasure and pain, each in its own way serving as a basic impetus toward the advancement of civilization.
At the same time, human ambition led to enterprise and development, which, given the human state, should be directed toward nature. But here, Burke issued a caveat: progress could not always be deemed to be positive if it led to the diminution of human goodness.
At the same time, human ambition led to enterprise and development, which, given the human state, should be directed toward nature. But here, Burke issued a caveat: progress could not always be deemed to be positive if it led to the diminution of human goodness.
In his Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burke warned of excesses which flow from revolutionary fervor in which liberty and equality become the be all and end all of revolution. Consequently, without some anchorage in a stable foundation, liberty and equality will lead to their direct opposite. In other words, radical revolutionaries, especially those with little or no grounding in history, tend toward discarding traditions and practices which could lend elements supportive of societal stability, in conjunction with newly- found liberty. Thus, Burke's historical synthesis is based on complex ideas stemming from the development of Western civilization. And from these emerges a practical way of looking at great political issues.To be truly "progressive," the application of the past, in harmony with new means of problem-solving, will minimize the likelihood of regression.
Lately, in considering profound changes that are now afoot in America, I can't help but think of Edmund Burke. Certain institutions in Western society that have developed over centuries and even millenia are now under attack. Sadly, I perceive that even national leaders, imbued with their peculiar brand of "progressivism," haven't a clue about the culture that nurtured them and endowed them with a developed heritage of liberty and equality; and, it seems, they are totally unaware that liberty and equality should be bolstered by moral responsibility.
If we remember but one thing about Edmund Burke, let it be that liberty and equality are admirable goals; but, if left unattended by a respect for the past, they may mutate into the very toxins that become our undoing.
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