Jeffrey Sykes's blog

duplicate

While we are recreating conservatism and rediscovering our roots, can we stop to examine the foundation we stand upon?

Russell Kirk:

"The conservative is not opposed to social improvement, although he doubts whether there is any such force as a mystical Progress, with a Roman P, at work in the world. When a society is progressing in some respects, usually it is declining in other respects. The conservative knows that any healthy society is influenced by two forces, which Samuel Taylor Coleridge called its Permanence and its Progression. The Permanence of a society is formed by those enduring interests and convictions that gives us stability and continuity; without that Permanence, the fountains of the great deep are broken up, society slipping into anarchy. The Progression in a society is that spirit and that body of talents which urge us on to prudent reform and improvement; without that Progression, a people stagnate.

Therefore the intelligent conservative endeavors to reconcile the claims of Permanence and the claims of Progression. He thinks that the liberal and the radical, blind to the just claims of Permanence, would endanger the heritage bequeathed to us, in an endeavor to hurry us into some dubious Terrestrial Paradise. The conservative, in short, favors reasoned and temperate progress; he is opposed to the cult of Progress, whose votaries believe that everything new necessarily is superior to everything old."

I think this question from the RNCdebate site is very important:

Partial Quote:

"A resurgent Republican party needs to turn this around and brand itself as the "ipod" party - the party that gives citizens the most freedom, options, and choice. We need to offer a clear distinction between Democrats top-down, one-size-fits all policies by giving the American people policy choices, the ability to opt out, and policies that recognize state and regional differences. The best way to do this is to resurrect the idea of federalism. Will you commit to making federalism/local choice the key plank of a revitalized Republican Party?"