European conservatism is based on age-old traditions, slowly evolving institutions, and unwritten customs. It's like a web that has grown over centuries.
American conservatism is based on the Constitution. It's an irony of history that American conservatives are essentially revolutionaries in that they are loyal to the principles of the American Revolution.
You could say that European conservatism prefers the organic and piecemeal, while American conservatism appeals to the abstract and a priori.
I've always considered myself much more of a European conservative. But recently I've found myself changing my mind.
European institutions seem incapable of resisting the encroachment of the liberal left. It's very hard to think of any European institution that has not been captured by political correctness to some degree (and usually to a great degree). The liberal left doesn't have any time for gentleman's agreements.
The State is the major example. I've never been an anti-government type of person, but the ever-increasing reach of the State, and especially its ability to impose an ideology, seems relentless on this side of the Altlantic. It continues even in the face of economic privatizations and what's often called "neoliberalism". (The ruling elite is quite happy to work through HR departments and employment law.)
So I have switched. I've become much more of an American conservative and a believer in the principles of the American Revolution and the Constitution, which I've long suspected to have been divinely inspired (although that's just my own tentative theory and not essential to my argument here.)
Freedom of speech is under intense, concerted attack on both sides of the Atlantic. But the First Amendment makes all the difference in the world on one side of it.
America has an infratructure of Christian colleges, conservative think tanks, and religious organisations which seem impervious to the entryism of the liberal left. Europe has nothing like the American religious right and their network of organisations. And no, I don't think that's a good thing, I think that's a bad thing.
In Europe, libraries, schools and universities are mostly organs of the ruling ideology. In America they have to deal with pesky things like elected school boards and library boards. And so on.
America is the only country in the world that was set up with the explicit intention of limiting the power of government, and maximising individual freedom. I don't particularly value freedom for its own sake. But I do value it as a way to protect families, communities, churches, and institutions from a ruling ideology. Ironically, American freedom does more to protect the Burkean "little platoons" than European conservatism can.
I'm the biggest sentimentalist in the world when it comes to institutions, especially venerable institutions. But I think it's reached the point where European conservatives (and all who are opposed to political correctness) need to become pretty ruthless towards all human institutions. Hopefully the voters of the UK will be ruthless towards the Tories (and, of course, Labour) at the next election. Ultimately principles matter far more than institutions.
Don't fantasize about reviving monarchies and aristocracies. They'd almost certainly be woke, anyway. (As long ago as 1910, G.K. Chesterton saw this: "The simple key to the power of our upper classes is this: that they have always kept carefully on the side of what is called Progress.")
I'm sure I'm still enough of a European conservative to exasperate some of the more radical anti-government Republicans. But I feel I've made a significant switch.
I am afraid I can’t agree with your rosy picture of American conservatism. As the American phrase goes, “You’re not cynical enough to get the hustle”. The American Constitution, as enforceable law, means what the judges, especially the Supreme Court judges, say it does, the judges say it means what the politicians who appoint them want them to say, and the politicians direct the judges to say what the money men who appoint them decide. This was most blatant with Roe vs Wade where the judges said the Constitution guaranteed the right to murder babies in the womb. Free speech guarantees? Well, unless, under the Democrats, you “spread medical disinformation” (aka notice that the vax doesn’t work), or, under the Republicans “spread hate speech” (aka criticise murders committed by Israel). And Republicans in favour of small government? Have you seen the budget deficits under Trump? He got Elon and co to make a big noise about a few billion dollars in cuts, then increased the Pentagon military budget by hundreds of billions of dollars, thus making his sponsors in the military-industrial complex very happy (and doubtless getting him some extra sponsorship in return). This has been going on for generations. The Republican Party is owned by Big Business, what Belloc and Chesterton called the Money Power, and the scamdemic proved beyond all doubt that Big Business actually loves Big Government. Pfizer got billions for a vax that didn’t work, Big Gov promoted and often mandated the vax they knew didn’t work, worked with Business to censure anyone who pointed out it didn’t work, and provided immunity against any damages the vax caused. With American conservatism it’s the same all the way down: American conservatism is owned by the Money Power, he who pays the piper chooses the tune, and this tune is not at all true conservatism. (I believe conservatism’s co-opting by the Money Power is the reason Belloc and Chesterton refused to call themselves conservatives.) (Anyway, you now have a comment on your American conservatism post!)
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