Traditionalist Conservatism
by Oscar Theodore
Hardly anyone has captured the spirit of authentic Traditionalist Conservatism better than the 20th century poet T.S. Eliot. He has been a profound source of inspiration for some of its chief proponents, including the American historian and writer Russell Kirk and the British philosopher and writer Roger Scruton. Eliot self-identified as a Classicist in literature, an Anglo-Catholic in religion and a Royalist (or Monarchist) in politics. These three elements are instances of dispositions which are at the core of the Traditionalist Conservative standpoint. These fundamental dispositions can be briefly stated in the following way:
1. Artistic, cultural & identitarian position:
• European Classicism, broadly understood (from the Hellas of Homer to the Icelandic Sagas).
2. Religious position:
• High Church Christianity, an enduring source of a transcendent sense and ethical guidance (either Orthodox Christianity, Anglo-Catholicism or Roman Catholicism).
3. Political position:
• Antifragile Organic Order, in opposition to the utopian egalitarian ideology of the French Revolution. A political thought characterised by epistemological modesty, belief in a decentralised social structure and an acknowledgement of rich human diversity.
The political position is by its nature vague and cannot be expressed in a clear-cut manner, but Kirk’s ten conservative principles cast a revealing light on the standpoint and the attitude behind it:
• The conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order.
• The conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity.
• The conservative believes in what may be called the principle of prescription.
• The conservative is guided by their principle of prudence.
• The conservative pays attention to the principle of variety.
• The conservative is chastened by their principle of imperfectability.
• The conservative is persuaded that freedom and property are closely linked.
• The conservative upholds voluntary community, quite as they oppose involuntary collectivism.
• The conservative perceives the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions.
• The conservative understands that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society.
In addition, there are four things which are important to mention with regard to authentic contemporary Traditionalist Conservatism:
1. Realisation that the American Empire has become the primary channel for anti-traditionalist values. The result is twofold. On the one hand a strong adherence to the geopolitics of multi-polar power structure and the balancing factor of the BRICS, especially Orthodox Russia, which should be viewed as a continuity of Tsarist-Russia rather than Soviet-Russia. On the other hand a support of the resistance against the empire, including backing of U.S. southern separatists. Ron Paul and Lew Rockwell have been an inspiration for Traditionalist Conservatives worldwide for their fierce opposition to the empire. In a brave new unipolar world of American hegemony there would be no hiding place for its enemies, including those who expose American war crimes and its extensive spying operations. Such global structure is both fragile and frightening.
2. Realisation that modern political correctness obscures reality in a harmful way. It could be described as a secular pseudo-religion for confused masses of identity-stripped people in an era of empty consumerism.
3. Realisation that Neoclassical-Keynesian economics is deeply flawed. A strong link has been formed between Traditionalist Conservatism and the insights of the Austrian School of economics.
4. Realisation that Traditionalist Conservatives must be “radical” in a proper meaning of the term. To be radical is to be a person who goes to the roots of things, which is exactly what Traditionalists desire to do. But they are of course opposed to radicalism when the term is used for ideologues of the French Revolution and their intellectual descendants. The cliché is popular that Traditionalist Conservatives merely want to preserve things as they are with no regard to the merit of the current condition. Nothing is further from the truth. Authentic Traditionalists are radicals for a proper order and they are radicals in their views how to avoid social catastrophes, which would cause misery for thousands or millions of people. Their prudence should not be mistaken for a fear of the new.
Just as T.S. Eliot, I have my own preferences within the framework of Traditionalist Conservatism:
• My thought is deeply rooted in Weimar Classicism, especially the artistic views of Goethe and Nietzsche.
• I am also a convert to Orthodox Christianity, which in my opinion is now the far best religious option for Traditionalist Conservatives. My religious conception is influenced by Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein; neither of them were Orthodox, but their views are more in line with Orthodoxy than any other branch of Christianity.
• In politics I am particularly indebted to Eric Voegelin, Roger Scruton and Nassim Nicholas Taleb (who is Orthodox). Furthermore, contrary to for example Karl Popper, I have begun to see great value in the ancient philosophy of Plato, his transcendental approach and his focus on natural order. Plato’s criticism of egalitarianism and mass democracy is in harmony with views of some key intellectuals of the Austrian School, such as Eric von Kuehnelt-Leddihn and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, who have also contributed considerably to my insights. Moreover, a true Platonist is “a lover of distinctions”, as Paul Elmer More observed. Plato is very far from the modern social-liberal tendency of reducing differences, whether it is for example the difference between the genders or the difference between ethnicities. The rich variety of people is natural, genuine and valuable. The recognition of distinctions is essential to Traditionalist Conservatism, along with appreciation of their cultural and aesthetic value.
I can hardly conclude this account of Traditionalist Conservatism without mentioning Edmund Burke, whose statue I see daily in front of Trinity College Dublin. Burke’s opposition to the French Revolution set the tone for modern conservatism and he is often considered the father of the creed. Still, Traditionalists have partly outgrown him and moved away from the classical liberal side of his thought. Liberalism, in any of its abstract forms and shapes, has proven to be a destructive and harmful ideology; as a social force it has in fact much in common with Communism and other types of international socialism, a connection which for example Voegelin and Kirk emphasised. Traditionalist Conservatives stand firm against liberalism of any kind, just as they stand firm against totalitarianism of any kind.
One feature of Traditionalist Conservatism is its strong link to art and literature. Therefore it is appropriate to end with a verse from the poem “The Four Quartets” by the poet who was mentioned in the very beginning. The verse contains the secret of Traditionalist Conservatism – and perhaps the secret of life itself:
In my beginning is my end. In succession
Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,
Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place
Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass.
Old stone to new building, old timber to new fires,
Old fires to ashes, and ashes to the earth
Which is already flesh, fur and faeces,
Bone of man and beast, cornstalk and leaf.
Houses live and die: there is a time for building
And a time for living and for generation
And a time for the wind to break the loosened pane
And to shake the wainscot where the field-mouse trots
And to shake the tattered arras woven with a silent motto.
Oscar Theodore
