Genealogy 101 for Conservatives

The Right Honourable Edmund Burke is a rich source of wisdom for conservatives. Russell Kirk argues that he is the father of modern conservatives, rising to the occasion as such in order to defend the achievements of Christian Europe before the destructive force of the French Revolution. It is to generations past and future that he turns his attention in this memorable aphorism:

People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.

–Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Paragraph 56

A World of Families, not Rootless, Mindless, Rutting Individuals

The decline of the family as the basic social unit and as the focus of efforts for worldly prosperity is an illustration of this maxim’s verity. Fewer people in the post-modern West seek to build families and endow them with the fruits of their labors for future generations to enjoy. The children of privilege, tempted since time immemorial to decadence, ever more rarely answer the call to nobility. The living generation is happy to place its eldest members in the care of the welfare state, seldom to be remembered. Let us hope that taxation and tranquilizers do not replace filial piety, for then we will have built a Brave New World, indeed– one with no real people in it.

References and Links in this Post

1. The Heritage Foundation. “The Life and Legacy of Russell Kirk.” By George H. Nash. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Thought/hl1035.cfm

2. The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal. “The Essence of Conservatism.” By Russell Kirk. http://www.kirkcenter.org/kirk/essence-1957.html

3. The Harvard Classics, Bartleby-Great Books Online. “Reflections on the Revolution in France, Paragraphs 50-74.” http://www.bartleby.com/24/3/3.html

4. Bibliomania. “Aldous Huxley. Brave New World.” http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/100/1956/frameset.html