Michael Malice once said that liberalism is conservatism going the speed limit.
He’s right.
As a thought experiment, take a textbook conservative from 2022 and place him alongside a textbook conservative from 1922. My guess is that the former will be way more liberal than the latter. Take the same two textbook conservatives and place them alongside a textbook conservative from 1822. My guess, again, is that the former will be way more liberal than the latter.
And so on.
Everything shifts leftwards
What this means, in my mind, is that society is constantly liberalising and shifting (ideologically) leftwards, and it is inevitable. Which is from where political “progress” – or “progressivism” – stems. For example, the French Revolution might be viewed as political progress by many, but as Edmond Burke argued in Reflections On The Revolution In France, such a change in social order was anything but realistic progress.
Based on the above political triangle, which comes from the literature of Curtis Yarvin, it’s quite obvious that a set of foundational values are most important to my decision-making. Applying such values keep me grounded and act as my moral compass, slowing down any significant shift to the left (the red bit of the triangle).
In short,
- I am individual and nobody speaks for me;
- competition and private property are good ideas; and
- hierarchies (and, thus, inequality) are part of natural order and are desirable.
A general chat
John O’Sullivan is the founder of Principia-Scientific International, and is also a colleague at TNT Radio. He joined me for a conversation surrounding the above talking points, and more. We don’t have all the answers, but we have opinions.
