The Peril of Disregarding the Past, Part 2

“And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” II Tim. 2:2

One of the best exponents of this was G.K. Chesterton. In his book, Orthodoxy, he wrote, “Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors.” And he wrote that “tradition asks of us not to neglect a good man’s opinion, even if he is our father.”

It’s not only respect for tradition that’s involved here - it’s prudence. These institutions and arrangements have helped to preserve the moral order, which is first duty to maintain. They have been shaped by people who took into account the world as it is - filled with fallen human beings - instead of an imaginary utopia filled with perfectible people.

This respect is why true conservatism is a disposition, not an ideology. It doesn’t seek to reinvent man and his world - its concerns are about what T.S. Eliot called the “permanent things.”

In contrast, perverted modern liberalism, which includes many who call themselves “conservatives,” is about innovation, breaking from the past, upsetting the established order, and maximizing individual autonomy.

But this is precisely the world view that has brought us to the economic crisis we face today. People of all stripes - bankers, bureaucrats, and John and Jane Q. Public - all cast off those stuffy old virtues like thrift, avoiding debt, delaying gratification, and they “reoriented” themselves and all of us into a global recession.

Whoever said that world view doesn’t matter?