My friend Cal, recommended this book. I am not sure I would agree with
everything written in this book, but he does provide food for thought.
What caught my interest most were his comments on education. I also shared the book with a friend, who was a teacher. She was also interested in what Mr. Kirk had to say.
Dr. Kirk, claims that contrary to leftist political thought, the
conservative movement does not have a text of holy writ, like the left's DAS KAPITAL. Instead the conservative movement is a coalition of different groups. Conservatism tends to rely on the accumulated wisdom of the past. A sense of history. There is something to be said for "experience" and that is what a study of history provides. Kirk says conservatism is the exercise of prudence as opposed to an adherence to an ideology. Conservatism is a sort of pragmatism with a view to the long term picture.
While there is no holy writ defining what makes a conservative, Mr. Kirk offers Ten Conservative principles in Chapter 2.
I am not sure if he would have insisted etching these principles in stone. I think I saw these principles also printed in The Federalist Patriot of the GOP USA Newsletter.
I would not say POLITICS OF PRUDENCE is a "bible" of conservatism. But the chapter titles and subject covered remind me in part of the Bible.
Chapter 1 defines prudence against ideology. Chapter 2 covers Ten Conservative principles (sort of like the Ten Commandments. Chapter 3
covers ten significant victories, like the historical books of the Old
Testament. Chapter 4 offers a "canon" of conservative thought with ten
recommended books to read. Chapters 5 through 9 are biographies of
conservative heroes of the conservative cause, sort of like the faith chapter in Hebrews or the historical books of the Old Testament. Chapters 10 through 13 cover the "types" of people identified with the conservative camp (popular conservative, libertarian, neo-conservative and cultural conservative). He praises the strengths and critiques the weaknesses first three groups: popular libertarians and neo-con. My guess is that Mr. Kirk would be classified as a cultural conservative. I also think he is not a "purist" in telling the other groups: "my way or the highway." In my opinion, this insistence towards "pure" conservatism has been a weakness of the conservative movement, a failure to work with others who are not perfectly in agreement with our brand of conservatism. I am reminded of Benjamin Franklin's admonition: "Gentleman, we should all hang together or we shall most assuredly hang separately." I'm afraid that in many battles, we have failed to hang together and so hung separately. But so far we have not literally hung. The remaining chapters address issues such as foreign
policy, centralization of power, education, "proletariat" mentality
and "popular" democracy. Maybe these later chapters could be compared to St. Paul's epistles. My apologies, if you think my analogy of Kirk's book to the Bible is off the wall. But that is my impression. In listing his ten books, Kirk points out the difference in backgrounds of the author. I also remember hearing that the Bible has a common theme connecting the books of the Bible, yet the authors came from different backgrounds.
Judging from Kirk's writings, he seems to explode the stereotype of
Conservatives being heartless or one mold. For some reason, his talk of
balancing opposing factors, such as change vs. permanence, made me think of Yin and Yang. Perhaps Dr. Kirk, better understands the concept of Yin/Yang better than many so called Eastern metaphysics people. Believe it or not Kirk even uses the word diversity. But my impression is that he is willing to practice a real diversity as opposed to a superficial "diversity" practiced by the left. His "heroes" chapter profiling Wilhelm Roepke, shows a concern for the human side of economics. I guess I was surprised to see Kirk caution against specialization. I think what he really meant was overspecialization. In other words a factory worker should not just know about working in a factory. He cites Roepke who says a Swiss factory worker, could lose his job, but still fend for himself, by going to his garden and fishing in the stream. It is surprising to see Kirk denounce "efficiency" and mass production. I am reminded of the mass produced food, which is tasteless compared to the locally grown food at Dunsmuir. I guess this should not be surprising since Mr. Kirk was not a blind materialist advocating the grand accumulation of goods.
This book is hardback and sells for $19.95, surprisingly inexpensive compared to even some paperback books. I must warn you to read this book with a dictionary. He uses big words. (ironically I was able to decipher the Latin phrase, pax vobiscum, �Peace be with you,� at the end of chapter 2, while being stumped by the English words. For those interested in education please read Chapter 16 (XVI) "Cultivating Educational Wastelands." This only runs 14 pages. The essay on T.S. Eliot is also instructive.
Let me end, with a cautionary note. I may have misinterpreted the book. So Cal, I offer my apologies in advance. Dr. Kirk was your thesis advisor. You have a better understanding of his thought, than myself. I never met the man. I am only going by what I read in his book. Please feel free to correct my misconceptions.
Guy
# posted by GuyTak @ 7:08 AM
