Conservatism
- we shall rely a great deal upon Count Metternich’s views (see Metternich’s “Confession of Faith”). Metternich was a long time member of the government of the Hapsburg Empire of Austria—foreign minister from 1809 and chancellor (chief minister) from 1821-1848. He helped to set up the ‘continental system’ after 1815 and the period 1815-48 has sometimes been called the Metternich era. Therefore his views were very influential over much of Europe for over 30 years. Also, his statement sent to Tsar Alexander I provides a very succinct statement of the basic principles and viewpoint of a great many conservatives in Europe in the 19th C.
- it is true that conservatism in Britain differed in a number of significant ways (we shall not examine it). Metternich’s conservatism is more extreme, but more representative of thinking and outlooks in Europe.
- it is unlikely that any of you will be very sympathetic to the views and beliefs of conservatism. We have been raised in an era when what were liberal and radical views are now taken as the norm; conservative views, on the other hand, are very much out of fashion and most survive only in very limited places and contexts.
- most conservative views are dismissed automatically and without much thought; moreover, there is a too hasty tendency to impute evil motives to anyone who espouses ideas which are different from our own. We assume that our own views (or those we have inherited) are the ‘truth’ and that every thinking, ‘right-minded’ person will reach the same conclusion and views. Therefore, anyone who espouses different views must be ignorant and stupid or have some ulterior motive (probably something in it for them).
- it is true that we humans have a great tendency to rationalise our own self-interest. It often comes out in labour disputes where strikers are trying to get higher wages and benefits but will argue that justice and truth are the real issues in the dispute.
- conservatives, especially if wealthy landowners, are highly vulnerable to the charge that their philosophies and ideologies of conservatism are merely attempts to rationalise their self-interest & to justify their privileges and disproportionate share of wealth. The charge probably has a good deal of truth in it, but nearly everyone does the same thing to some degree at least; conservatives are not unique in this regard.
- however, many of the proponents of conservative views were sincere in their beliefs; they may have been mistaken, but that is something to consider & to examine carefully.
- also, whether they were mistaken or not, it was their beliefs which determined their behaviour and you cannot begin to understand why they did what they did until you have some understanding of how they thought.
- I do not require you to agree with conservatives (or indeed with liberals or socialists either); what I do require is that you try to understand what they believed and how they viewed the world (i.e., their cosmology). When you are examined, you will not be examined on your agreement with or your opinions about conservatism (having opinions about something you don’t understand merely makes you opinionated, not knowledgeable or wise). Rather, I shall be trying to determine how well you understand their views, how well you got inside their heads.
- before turning to Metternich’s statement, we shall discuss a number of features of conservatism. First we shall look at their assessment of human nature. As we shall see, such an assessment is a basic starting point for all ideologies about how society should be structured and order maintained. Humans are the building blocks of society; conforming to and working with human nature seems a prerequisite for creating an ideal, smoothly functioning society. Many of the differences in our 3 ideologies are rooted in their markedly different assessments of human nature.
Human nature
- in general, conservatives have a pessimistic view of human nature and of human capabilities, at least of the majority, the masses. Partly, this is rooted in the traditional Christian concept of original sin which means that all humans are born sinful. Also, in the 18th & 19th Cs, the majority of people had little education and illiteracy was very high. This was usually attributed to innate lack of capability rather than to lack of opportunity.
- moreover, rich and poor tended to live in almost completely different worlds. The wealthy knew very little about the majority of the ‘lower classes’; mostly, the ones they knew were servants (although they might know a bit about some of the workers on their estates).
- servants were seen as either good or bad: the good ones worked hard, were trustworthy and were subservient; the bad were lazy, were liable to steal, were impudent, etc. However, life in domestic service was not an accurate representation of the lives of working people and little was known of servants’ lives outside the big houses.
- the rest of the ‘lower classes’ (especially rural labourers) were generally seen only at a distance and little was known of how they lived. They appeared unkempt, dirty & brutish. Also, for reasons which often escaped the rich, the masses engaged from time to time in outbursts of rioting, looting and even killing.
- the naive ignorance of the rich has long been represented by the story of Marie Antoinette. Shortly before the start of the French Revolution, there was a famous bread march by women & children from Paris to the Palace of Versailles where the royal court lived. When she asked what the people at the gate were complaining about, she was told, “They say they have no bread.” Her reply was, “Well, let them eat cake.”
- this story is usually considered apocryphal (i.e., probably it never actually happened); however, it is a myth as it does illustrate a truth: the wealthy, aristocratic classes knew very little about how the poor actually lived—the want, the poverty, the malnutrition, even starvation that were all too common among the ‘common people’. Usually, when an upper class person spoke to a peasant or person off the street, the latter, becoming tongue-tied and awkward, appeared completely foolish and dim-witted. (That has happened to me when I’ve been introduced to a VIP.)
- altogether then, the masses appeared in 2 main guises:
- on the one hand, they were regarded as stupid or sullen animals prone to occasional violence and barbarism;
- alternately, they might appear subservient and even obsequious or perhaps viewed patronisingly as simple and child-like. As children, they needed to told what to do and guided with a firm hand.
[When I lived for 15 months in South Africa in the 1970s doing research, almost identical views were held by most whites regarding Africans, especially African servants. These characterisations were then used as a justification for white domination—South Africa would revert to barbarism and chaos without white control.]
- one of the conclusions draw from this premise about the nature and capabilities of the mass of the population was that the masses should not have any say in governing. There were other conclusions as well.
Order
- for many conservatives, their conception of order was not too different from the earlier mediaeval Christian view of order stemming from God in the Great Chain of Being. According to this view, everything had been created and ordered in a great hierarchy starting from God and descending downwards: heavenly beings—archangels, seraphims, angels, etc.; humans—kings, aristocrats, middle classes, workers & peasants (in fact, people then usually used the term ‘orders’ rather than ‘classes’ to refer to these distinctions); animals; birds; fish; insects; plants; etc. Everything had been created in its place and should remain in its place. Of course this perfect order had been disrupted by sin. Satan had tried to overthrow the divine order by attempting to displace God.
- according to this view, the social order and hierarchy in human societies was decreed and ordained by God. However, because of sin etc. order in human societies was imperfect. Nevertheless, conservatives in the 18th & 19th Cs still believed that an hierarchical social structure was ‘natural’; they often added that the contemporary order had evolved over a long period of time and therefore was based upon experience. They believed that a separation process similar to milk and cream (before homogenisation) took place; i.e., the talented and more able people had risen in society to places of leadership and their talents had been passed down to their children generation after generation to the present. Thus, the upper classes represented the ‘cream’ of society (that expression is still used).
Civilisation and culture
- conservatives believed that civilisation and culture had been achieved only slowly and painfully. Furthermore, they believed that these things had been brought about by a small minority (the cream), as these achievements were beyond the capabilities of the majority. It was this elite minority who maintained and perpetuated them.
- the capabilities of the elite had been built up over time, to a large degree as result of heredity (‘blue bloods’); they did recognise that upbringing and environment played a significant role in the transmission of culture and the development of higher abilities, but still regarded heredity as the most important aspect.
- this high level culture and civilisation were fragile; many conservatives tended to see themselves as tiny bastions struggling to maintain them while surrounded by a sea of barbarism and facing the threat of reverting to chaos. It was a continuing struggle requiring constant vigilance and effort to prevent chaos and disorder from overwhelming and destroying society. It was the small minority with higher capabilities who provided guidance and direction in this struggle to maintain order & stability.
- the rule and domination of the political and social system by this elite minority was justified because of the vital services and leadership they provided. The mass (or lower orders) of the population should not have a say in political decision-making as they were almost completely lacking in ability and knowledge. Even the middle classes, who might have a good deal of property and wealth and/or education, should not have a significant say in politics because they lacked the experience (i.e., collective experience as passed down by inheritance and tradition). Everyone benefited from the rule by the minority because this system provided the best government; even the poor were better off with stability and order than they would be with turmoil and disruption (these were the options perceived by conservatives—conservatism or chaos!).
- furthermore, they felt that their privileges and wealth were justified because these advantages were necessary. Without them, the minority would not be able to produce the hereditary elite capable of governing and guiding society.
In view of human nature and the range of human abilities in the population, what was necessary to maintain ordered society and civilisation?
Authority
- in this context and to solve this need, conservatives identified ‘authority’ as the correct and right principle for structuring and governing society. This was ‘authority’ in all senses:
- Authority as a mandate from God;
- Authority as legitimacy conferred by centuries of tradition and the right to rule passed down from generation to generation;
- Authority as the power to impose one’s will on society and to command compliance with one’s rule.
- authority involves not only the right and ability to make laws, but also the power and mechanisms to enforce compliance and to punish those who do not obey. Authority includes elements of moral authority (stemming from legitimacy) as well as physical power and coercion (courts, police, even military, etc.).
- on earth, this authority centred in the monarch (king, emperor, elector, etc.) who then delegated it downwards through the hierarchies in society. Three hierarchies were especially important: the state (gov’t & bureaucracy), the social hierarchy and the church (see the diagram below). In general, conservatives tended to visualise society as a pyramid. All authority and legitimacy flowed from the top downwards. One argument against democracy (and the social contract) was that under democracy, authority flowed from the people and that was inverting the pyramid. They argued that a pyramid could not stand on its point, nor could society be stable or strong if political authority and structure were turned upside down.
Legitimacy
- legitimacy, as you can see, is often linked with authority, but it has additional connotations as well.
- literally, the term means ‘legal’ or ‘lawful’; therefore, legitimate authority is someone who is empowered according to the laws of society; e.g., the king shall be the eldest male offspring of the preceding king and a woman to whom he is legally married.
- however, legitimacy often goes beyond this to include the notion of right and proper in a moral sense, especially in the eyes of those who are affected; thus, it often includes the idea that many of the people being governed must accept the rightness and appropriateness of the authority for it to be ‘legitimate’.
- it may also include the idea that the rule of the ‘legitimate authority’ has been divinely vetted and approved (‘the Lord’s anointed’).
- there are a number of key issues in determining whether a government is right and proper:
- Is it legitimate in its origins and structure?
- Is it legitimate in its personnel?
- Is it legitimate in its use of power and in the way it performs?