The Conservative Mind: From Burke
to Eliot by Russell Kirk
Great Book
The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk is arguably one of the greatest
contributions to twentieth-century American Conservatism. Brilliant in every
respect, from its conception to its choice of significant figures representing
the history of intellectual conservatism, The Conservative Mind by Russell
Kirk launched the modern American Conservative Movement. A must-
read.
Personal Review: The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot
by Russell Kirk
Russell Kirk, an American political theorist and social critic, published this
book in 1953. The first chapter is a succinct and almost eloquent statement
of his political philosophy, and the remainder of the book is his account of
the life, times, and political philosophies of great Anglo-American
conservatives in the tradition of Edmund Burke, including John Adams

(who supplied conservatism its theory of the naturality of ruling elites),
Walter Scott, George Canning, Samuel Coleridge, John C. Calhoun,
Fenimore Cooper, de Tocqueville, Santayana, and several others.
I am not a liberal or a conservative, and generally (but not invariably) I find
individuals who take on such labels to be unimaginative and opinionated.
Nevertheless, it should be possible to put together a political philosophy
that generally gives acceptable answers to political and policy questions
without the need of going into intricate and detailed particularities of the
issues. We certainly cannot expect the average voter, who is interested in
being a good citizen but is otherwise not overly devoted to the study of
social issues, to spend more than a small portion of his time in evaluating
the alternatives. A hearty political philosophy may require that citizens
spend some time becoming political and socially aware, but like a good
financial investment, the cost should be borne early and the payout, in the
form of simplified decision-making, should be valuable and enduring.
I picked up Russell Kirk's book because it is a classic written in an era
before the influence of Milton Friedman on conservative thought would
become pervasive. I think it is valuable to become acquainted with these
writings, if only to discover how alien some of the ideas now appear, as
well as to find that some ancient truths remain truths today. There are two
major conditions today that are very different from the period in which
these men wrote. The first is that there is no longer a pretense that there is
a viable alternative to liberal democratic capitalism for countries that have
evolved in the Anglo-American tradition. Therefore, the emphasis on the
value of tradition in conservative thought, and the characterization of "the
enemy" as radicals attempting Utopian transformation of society on the
basis of Reason and Science, no longer rings true. "The essence of of
social conservatism is preservation of the ancient moral traditions of
humanity," says Kirk (p. 7). This may have some reverberation in the
modern conservative notion of strict construction in the Supreme Court, but
not elsewhere in the modern American conservative agenda.
The second major change is that the United States, Britain, and most other
liberal democratic capitalist countries no longer consist of a hegemonic
ethnic/national group with either no significant minority/immigrant
presence, or a situation in which minorities and immigrants are effectively
disenfranchised and rendered powerless. "Belief that a divine intent rules
society," asserts Kirk, as well as conscience, forging an eternal chain of
right and duty which links great and obscure, living and dead." (p. 7)
Appeal to the weight of tradition and the obligation of the living to the dead,
Kirk alludes approvingly to Burke's "description of the state as a divinely
ordained moral essence, a spiritual union of the dead, the living and those
yet unborn." (p. 9) This depiction of our government simply pulls no weight
with most voters, who lived in Europe, Africa, or Asia when the Founding
Fathers did their work, and patriots galore sacrificed and died to secure our
freedom. We have a duty to recognize their sacrifices and recognize their
contributions, but contemporary politics is, and always will be, rooted in the
here and now.

Some of Kirk's cherished principles appear to be true, but they are no
longer widely contested. Kirk celebrates conservatives' "affection for the
proliferating variety and mystery of traditional life, as distinguished from the
narrowing uniformity and equalitarianism and utilitarian aims of most
radical systems." (p.8) We all now appreciate diversity and abhor
uniformity, but it is worth recalling that this is a central aspect of freedom
that people have fought and died for (and continue to fight and die for in
contemporary despotic societies).
Perhaps the strongest of classical conservative principle is the notion that
"property and freedom are inseparably connected." (p. 8) This connection
was stressed by Milton Friedman, and is probably the most cogent point in
the critique of socialism. Some have objected that if property is unequally
distributed, which it ineluctably will be in capitalist market societies, that
freedom will also be unequally distributed, in which case it is not truly
freedom at all. This is, however, a specious critique. The fact that water
and enjoyment of life are inseparably connected does not entail that the
unequal distribution of water implies unequal enjoyment of life. However, it
is reasonable to say that a certain level of material security is a
prerequisite of freedom, so liberal democratic capitalism cannot be fully
defended as long as there is real material poverty. Curiously,
conservatives, who stress so strongly the link between property and
freedom, are rarely concerned with the amelioration of poverty.
I come away from The Conservative Mind with an appreciation of many
conservative insights concerning the opposition to Utopian and state
socialism, including Communism in all its forms. I would not be surprised if
the time comes that these misgivings again become prominent in the face
of some new onslaught upon liberal democratic society. But these
concerns do not speak to the current situation either in the United States
and other advanced technological societies, or in currently developing
societies.
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