Most ideologies have their own ideal of a “bright future” – a utopia of a perfect society where progress will reign, there will be no destructive forces, and everyone will live in harmony. Only conservatism does not tell adults seductive fairy tales about an ideal world.
Communism seduced by building a society of equality and prosperity, where there would be no money, no power, and no private property. Left-wing liberalism offers a utopia where there will be no discrimination, numerous differences between people will disappear, and everyone will become gender neutral and tolerant. Libertarians propose to build a world without borders and states, to get rid of taxes and give everything to the market, after which the desired freedom should come. Social democracy, anarchism, feminism, and environmentalism with Greta Thunberg offer their own recipes for an ideal system.
Conservatives do not deceive people with stories that an ideal world can be built. They do not call for killing “enemies of progress and the people” by the millions, as the communists did. They do not call on humanity to abandon energy sources, destroy environmentally harmful technologies, and move to an idyll of gathering and harmony with nature, as eco-fascists propose. They do not call for the prohibition and destruction of “inferior” or “wrong” social groups. In building the future, conservatives advise paying attention to the experience of past generations of human civilization. If no one on any continent has yet succeeded in building an ideal society of equality and justice, then there is no need to force people to strive for it and kill everyone on the way to a utopian ideal. Or at least, we should not rape human nature to fit someone else’s illusory ideals, usually armchair theorists who have no idea about real humanity. The USSR, North Korea, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, or modern aggressive movements are clear examples of why utopias are harmful.
But this does not mean that conservatism does not have a single model, if not an ideal, then at least an adequate society whose standards are worth striving for. Such an “ideal” certainly exists in conservatism, though, unlike other ideologies, it is in a more rational and realistic format.
Conservatives advise to build a happy future on the basis of preserving everything good and effective that has proven its usefulness over the decades. Preserving democracy, instead of replacing it with a minority dictatorship; preserving freedom of speech, instead of censorship and silencing those who have their own human rights-guaranteed opinion; preserving public morality and family values, instead of rampant moral relativism; preserving national identity, instead of nations disappearing into the melting pot of modern internationalism. The formula for an ideal conservative future is based on preserving the existing achievements of democracy, civil rights and freedoms, while increasing the economic well-being of the population, strengthening morality, order and stability.
Between the good and the utopian, conservatives choose the good. Conservatives do not believe in the realism of the utopian not because they do not want to build an ideal society, but because they maintain a rational, sober, critical and, most importantly, based on civilizational experience view of society and its development trends. Conservatives simply know that utopias are not possible because human nature remains imperfect, despite the emergence of smartphones and electric cars. Between a good job and an online casino, a conservative chooses a good job. And between populist promises to end the war tomorrow, overcome corruption and join the EU by the evening and thoughtful democratic reforms based on the rule of law, a conservative chooses the latter.
Because a conservative thinks like an adult, does not believe in beautiful promises, and focuses only on real deeds.
Author: Valeriy Maydanyuk