Sorry music lovers, this isn't a piece about some long lost strain that emanated from a rich enclave in America's South. This is about the missing soul of conservatism.
Frit is the word used by the late and former UK Prime Minister, Lady Margaret Thatcher to describe someone who is frightened. That term seems very apposite to describe modern day conservatives in both the UK and the US.
I have posted here before concerning the lack of focus amongst America's conservatives - http://bit.ly/1kiLq2r - so, today, I want to concentrate on UK conservatives but I think that there will still be resonance for US ones, as well, so stay tuned!
The UK will shortly be 'celebrating' four years of a Conservative 'led' coalition. I use the term led because nominally, that is supposed to be the case. The Conservative Party have the highest number of MPs in the House of Commons and considerably outnumber their Liberal Democrat partners, and yet one regularly comes away with the notion that it is the Lib Dems that are the senior partner. It isn't just about better press management, by them. Look at the policies of the Conservatives and see if you can find those that can be called truly Conservative. Ok, how about just one?
Europe is always touted by the media, led by the in-thrall BBC, to be a very divisive and electorally damaging issue for the Tories. We are regularly 'told' that voters don't like to see a divided party and that the factional fighting within the Conservative party will make them unelectable. And yet, these same voters are also, in large numbers, said to be skeptical of the whole Euro project. These same voters want to see a changed relationship between the UK and the European Union. This is what is 'promised' by David Cameron along with a post the next General Election, referendum. I sense though that people just don't trust the Conservative leadership to deliver. Cameron states that he wants to remain in Europe and will campaign on that basis, in any referendum, which kind of preempts his view of the choice that will be put before the British people -
Why then aren't the Conservatives using their historical opposition to statist/corporatist institutions like the European Union and pushing this as a policy to the electorate? Providing a real choice on Europe, for a change. I know some will say, that this is what the UK Independence Party does but I really can't see them making the breakthrough in significant numbers to radically change the political make-up of Parliament. So it has to be the Conservatives that do this. But first they need to regain their 'soul'.
The name of the Conservative Party in the UK is more properly, The Conservative and Unionist Party. The Unionist tends to be forgotten by some because of its past associations with Ulster Unionists and their seeming intransigence (imagine! They wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom!!). However, the party's roots are in maintenance of the whole United Kingdom and yet...
Consider the referendum that will occur in Scotland this year. Where are the weekly or daily speeches by the Prime Minister and other leading Tories, extolling the virtues of a United Kingdom over a split one? Where are the monthly ones? Any speeches? All we get are minor passing references buried in other keynote addresses. If the Scottish electorate were some girl that the Unionists were trying to woo, then our apparent indifference will drive her into the arms of the Scottish Nationalist cad, who roguishly offers to take her away from an over-bearing parent and into the bright sunny uplands. Where is the robust defence of what the 'union' means? Where are the vigorous attacks on the economic lunacy that is presented as Scotland's future? The attacks on the ever-encroaching state presence on Scotland's landscape?
If I were a Scot, I would look at the indifference shown by the Conservative and Unionist Party and think that since the Tories 'cannot be bothered with putting up any kind of fight for Scotland, then I cannot be bothered with them or with the Union. Maybe Salmond has a point!'
It is though on economics that the Conservative soul is found to be most absent.
Consider. At the tail end of the 1980s, communism was in its death throes (thanks in large part to Thatcher and Reagan's policy of confronting communism and showing to all, its inherent flaws). Its slowly, slowly sister ideology, socialism, was also tainted by its association. Even now people can look back at communism and see it for the human and economic failure that it was. Nazism (which incidentally was based on socialism, though socialists and labourites get offended when you point this out), led to the slaughter of many millions of innocents but think on how many millions Stalin and Mao and Pol Pot and their communist fellow travelers massacred.
And yet, instead of seeing the adoption of capitalist and small government principles and the retreat of socialism, we have seen that governments of every hue, continued with the creeping implementation of socialism.
The UK's Conservatives have been complicit in this when out of office and we continue to see this with the current government. The idea of moving the needle on public spending by a meaningfully noticeable amount seems alien to the current Tories. True conservative values require that the state steps back, that the starting premise is why should the government be involved in doing this at all and why can it not be left to the private sector? Instead there is no 'rolling back the frontiers of the state' but mere tinkering at the edges. Does anybody think that Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan would consider the current crop of UK Tories and American Republicans as 'conservative'? Or would they see them as faintly pink quasi-socialists? I believe the latter, you will take your own view.
These 'socialist-lite' Tories follow such defeatist policies even when in opposition, such as supporting the UK Labour parties bail-out of over-extended banks. They wrap-up such an anti-capitalist policy in words that could be lifted straight from the Communist Manifesto and then blindly follow Labour through the division lobbies and support such dangerous and costly legislation. Again, they allow the Bank of England to devalue currency by simply printing more of it, via Quantitative Easing and then rationalize the whole thing by saying that there is no alternative and that they are making cuts to public spending. Even when they know that the cuts that are being made are, despite all of the grandstanding and soundbites from the Labour Party and its mouthpiece, the BBC, tiny, and represent barely a scratch on the surface of the bloated beast that is state spending.
So, if you are a conservative, what can you do?
In the USA, the Tea Party represents a more conservative option. They are touted as a divisive 'faction' within the Republican Party but I sense that they are actually a far greater influence than the 'old' Republican establishment yet understand.
For UK Conservatives? I couldn't recommend UKIP, though their policy on the EU - offering a straight In/Out referendum is sound. Their other policies, seem quite limited and seem to have patches of socialism running through them. In fact, I would go further on the UKIP EU policy and say that this is the right one. I don't think that the EU can be reformed, I do not believe there is the political will to do so. For evidence refer to Francois Hollande's comments last week. Still though, for me, UKIP is a one-trick pony.
I think what is needed is a UK Tea Party - or a Tea Party done in the UK style. That is, Conservative Associations adopting candidates that understand what being a conservative means. That understand the need for a complete re-alignment of the social contract between government and the governed, with power and responsibility moving from the former to the latter.
Of course this will take time but when you see people like Tim Yeo being de-selected by his constituency association, one lives in hope.
Please pass this post on to any Conservative Party members that you know and tell them that the future of conservatism lies in their hands. All of us need to get active and breathe new life into the soul of conservatism and to use every opportunity to roll back the frontiers of the state and state control.
Frit is the word used by the late and former UK Prime Minister, Lady Margaret Thatcher to describe someone who is frightened. That term seems very apposite to describe modern day conservatives in both the UK and the US.
I have posted here before concerning the lack of focus amongst America's conservatives - http://bit.ly/1kiLq2r - so, today, I want to concentrate on UK conservatives but I think that there will still be resonance for US ones, as well, so stay tuned!
The UK will shortly be 'celebrating' four years of a Conservative 'led' coalition. I use the term led because nominally, that is supposed to be the case. The Conservative Party have the highest number of MPs in the House of Commons and considerably outnumber their Liberal Democrat partners, and yet one regularly comes away with the notion that it is the Lib Dems that are the senior partner. It isn't just about better press management, by them. Look at the policies of the Conservatives and see if you can find those that can be called truly Conservative. Ok, how about just one?
Europe is always touted by the media, led by the in-thrall BBC, to be a very divisive and electorally damaging issue for the Tories. We are regularly 'told' that voters don't like to see a divided party and that the factional fighting within the Conservative party will make them unelectable. And yet, these same voters are also, in large numbers, said to be skeptical of the whole Euro project. These same voters want to see a changed relationship between the UK and the European Union. This is what is 'promised' by David Cameron along with a post the next General Election, referendum. I sense though that people just don't trust the Conservative leadership to deliver. Cameron states that he wants to remain in Europe and will campaign on that basis, in any referendum, which kind of preempts his view of the choice that will be put before the British people -
"Well we went and had these discussions with the EU and they agreed that, going forward we, the great British people, can have our MPs, sitting in the 'mother of all parliaments' decide on whether or not we retain British Summer Time (or insert some other meaningless non-concession). Of course, negotiation is about compromise, and so we had to concede that in future, Britain's economic policies will be first approved by our colleagues in the EU, before we put them to the House of Commons, so that we know that they are aligned with those of the other EU states. Yes we also had to cede control over foreign affairs to the EU but, with my former colleague, Nick Clegg, now the EU High Commissioner, we know we have a friend who will look after British interests and don't forget, while we had to give up the Pound Sterling, as an independent currency, we did manage to get the name of the Euro changed to the Pound"Back to reality:
Why then aren't the Conservatives using their historical opposition to statist/corporatist institutions like the European Union and pushing this as a policy to the electorate? Providing a real choice on Europe, for a change. I know some will say, that this is what the UK Independence Party does but I really can't see them making the breakthrough in significant numbers to radically change the political make-up of Parliament. So it has to be the Conservatives that do this. But first they need to regain their 'soul'.
The name of the Conservative Party in the UK is more properly, The Conservative and Unionist Party. The Unionist tends to be forgotten by some because of its past associations with Ulster Unionists and their seeming intransigence (imagine! They wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom!!). However, the party's roots are in maintenance of the whole United Kingdom and yet...
Consider the referendum that will occur in Scotland this year. Where are the weekly or daily speeches by the Prime Minister and other leading Tories, extolling the virtues of a United Kingdom over a split one? Where are the monthly ones? Any speeches? All we get are minor passing references buried in other keynote addresses. If the Scottish electorate were some girl that the Unionists were trying to woo, then our apparent indifference will drive her into the arms of the Scottish Nationalist cad, who roguishly offers to take her away from an over-bearing parent and into the bright sunny uplands. Where is the robust defence of what the 'union' means? Where are the vigorous attacks on the economic lunacy that is presented as Scotland's future? The attacks on the ever-encroaching state presence on Scotland's landscape?
If I were a Scot, I would look at the indifference shown by the Conservative and Unionist Party and think that since the Tories 'cannot be bothered with putting up any kind of fight for Scotland, then I cannot be bothered with them or with the Union. Maybe Salmond has a point!'
It is though on economics that the Conservative soul is found to be most absent.
Consider. At the tail end of the 1980s, communism was in its death throes (thanks in large part to Thatcher and Reagan's policy of confronting communism and showing to all, its inherent flaws). Its slowly, slowly sister ideology, socialism, was also tainted by its association. Even now people can look back at communism and see it for the human and economic failure that it was. Nazism (which incidentally was based on socialism, though socialists and labourites get offended when you point this out), led to the slaughter of many millions of innocents but think on how many millions Stalin and Mao and Pol Pot and their communist fellow travelers massacred.
And yet, instead of seeing the adoption of capitalist and small government principles and the retreat of socialism, we have seen that governments of every hue, continued with the creeping implementation of socialism.
The UK's Conservatives have been complicit in this when out of office and we continue to see this with the current government. The idea of moving the needle on public spending by a meaningfully noticeable amount seems alien to the current Tories. True conservative values require that the state steps back, that the starting premise is why should the government be involved in doing this at all and why can it not be left to the private sector? Instead there is no 'rolling back the frontiers of the state' but mere tinkering at the edges. Does anybody think that Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan would consider the current crop of UK Tories and American Republicans as 'conservative'? Or would they see them as faintly pink quasi-socialists? I believe the latter, you will take your own view.
These 'socialist-lite' Tories follow such defeatist policies even when in opposition, such as supporting the UK Labour parties bail-out of over-extended banks. They wrap-up such an anti-capitalist policy in words that could be lifted straight from the Communist Manifesto and then blindly follow Labour through the division lobbies and support such dangerous and costly legislation. Again, they allow the Bank of England to devalue currency by simply printing more of it, via Quantitative Easing and then rationalize the whole thing by saying that there is no alternative and that they are making cuts to public spending. Even when they know that the cuts that are being made are, despite all of the grandstanding and soundbites from the Labour Party and its mouthpiece, the BBC, tiny, and represent barely a scratch on the surface of the bloated beast that is state spending.
So, if you are a conservative, what can you do?
In the USA, the Tea Party represents a more conservative option. They are touted as a divisive 'faction' within the Republican Party but I sense that they are actually a far greater influence than the 'old' Republican establishment yet understand.
For UK Conservatives? I couldn't recommend UKIP, though their policy on the EU - offering a straight In/Out referendum is sound. Their other policies, seem quite limited and seem to have patches of socialism running through them. In fact, I would go further on the UKIP EU policy and say that this is the right one. I don't think that the EU can be reformed, I do not believe there is the political will to do so. For evidence refer to Francois Hollande's comments last week. Still though, for me, UKIP is a one-trick pony.
I think what is needed is a UK Tea Party - or a Tea Party done in the UK style. That is, Conservative Associations adopting candidates that understand what being a conservative means. That understand the need for a complete re-alignment of the social contract between government and the governed, with power and responsibility moving from the former to the latter.
Of course this will take time but when you see people like Tim Yeo being de-selected by his constituency association, one lives in hope.
Please pass this post on to any Conservative Party members that you know and tell them that the future of conservatism lies in their hands. All of us need to get active and breathe new life into the soul of conservatism and to use every opportunity to roll back the frontiers of the state and state control.
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