Citizen Tom

This is the last post of a three-part series.  The connecting thread?  What is the enemy of Conservatism?  This post proposes to answer that question.  In the process, I will first answer another question.  Why don’t our leaders practice Conservatism?

Why don’t our leaders practice Conservatism?

What is wisdom?

When we elect our public officials, what is it we say we desire from them?  Is it not wisdom?  What is this quality we call wisdom?  Are our elected officials wise?  Do they actually practice wisdom on our behalf?

These are difficult questions.  The problem is defining wisdom, that is, what is wise in actual practice.  This problem is why we have elections.   We cannot agree what constitutes the application of wisdom.

Consider, for example, how a professor of philosophy might approach the definition of wisdom.  After a long and laborious explanation, the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy finally reaches this conclusion (from here).

S (meaning Socrates) is wise if

1. S has extensive factual and theoretical knowledge.
2. S knows how to live well.
3. S is successful at living well.
4. S has very few unjustified beliefs.

Each of the four propositions above cannot be measured.  So even if we accept the above definition as true, we still have a problem.  Because the measure and the relative importance of each factor lies in the mind of the beholder, we cannot agree who is and is not wise.

• When does one’s knowledge become extensive?  What kind of knowledge is relevant?
• How do we define living well?
• What constitutes success at living well?
• Which beliefs are unjustified?

Benjamin Franklin, stated the problem more concisely.

Who is wise? He that learns from every One. Who is powerful? He that governs his Passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody. — Benjamin Franklin, “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” July 1755, The Complete Poor Richard Almanacks, facsimile ed., vol. 2, p. 270 (1970). (from here)

Do our leaders have wisdom?

Conventional wisdom suggests that we gain wisdom as we grow older.  Unfortunately, there is nothing that suggests gaining wisdom with age is inevitable;  experience seems to do many of us very little good.  Many of us never learn from our “mistakes” or the “mistakes” of others.  Why?

Christians have an explanation for this problem.  Believing that wisdom comes from God, Christians regard the Bible as wisdom.  The Bible says wisdom is the gift of the Lord, and the Bible says we gain wisdom only when we have the right attitude. What is the right attitude?

Mark 10:13-16 (New International Version)

The Little Children and Jesus

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Little children are not “too clever.”  Their wants and desires are simple and readily seen.  They do not deceive others or themselves.   Without any awareness of pride, little children return the love of the adults who love them.

We call little children innocents for it is as adults we become captives of sin.  With experience, we have the opportunity to become either foolish or wise.  We struggle to choose correctly, and too often, we fail.

Although they may have degrees and well padded resumes, our leaders are only human.  Just like the rest of us, our leaders struggle to choose between good and evil.  In fact, our leaders, when driven by hidden ambition and pride, may be less wise than most of us.

We demonstrate wisdom with the choices we make.  We choose our leaders, and we choose only with such wisdom as we have.  If we do not choose wisely, then we do not have wise leaders.

Are we as a People wise?  If our choice of leaders is a good measure of our wisdom,  then our dissatisfaction with our political leaders indicates we are not.  The political philosophies and practices of our leaders range widely.  Because the majority of us are uncertain how our government should work, we do not know how to pick the people who should run it.  Instead, we end up with a popularity contest, and we end up with a leadership as foolish as ourselves.

What is the enemy of Conservatism?

Modern American Conservatism is a modest political philosophy.  It is advocated principally by those who believe that the American Dream is freedom, that the sole mission of government is to protect the liberty of the People.  From the Conservative perspective then, wise leadership is that leadership which is able to restrain itself.  Instead of trying to solve the People’s problems (which Conservatives regard as impractical), Conservative leadership protects the People’s rights so that the People have the liberty to solve their own problems.

What does the Bible suggest is the prerequisite for wisdom?  Who is the most famous Biblical example of a wise man?  That man was King Solomon.  How did Solomon receive his wisdom?   He humbly asked wisdom of God (2 Chronicles 1:7-12).

Centuries before he lived, Solomon understood Jesus’ admonition towards humility.

Matthew 23:11-12 (New International Version)

The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Wikipedia (see here) has an interesting article that describes humility from the perspective of different religious faiths.  This article describes Christian humility as having the following features.

1. submission to God and legitimate authority;
2. recognition of the virtues and talents that others possess, particularly those which surpass one’s own, and giving due honor and, when required, obeisance;
3. recognition of the limits of one’s talents, ability, or authority; and, not reaching for that which is beyond one’s grasp.

Second to charity, humility is perhaps the greatest virtue we need in a leader.  However, when we ourselves are prideful, unwilling to be the servants of others, we will not choose humble men and women to lead us.  Instead, we will choose a fantasy.  Michael Zak, in Back to Basics for the Republican Party, describes the problem this way.

At the core of the socialist outlook on life is what Freidrich Hayek described as the “fatal conceit.”  Far from any conscious or conspiratorial intent, a socialist’s fatal conceit stems from his egotistical assumption that any problem would disappear if he were able to impose his will on it.  Government employees, whom he projects would somehow act on his behalf, serve as the proxy for imposing his will on society.  A faceless bureaucracy is too impersonal, however, for some socialists, who prefer a proxy with a face.  These people prefer to focus their aspirations on some charismatic leader, whose cult of personality attracts people across the political spectrum who might otherwise not agree on anything else.  What matters to these socialists is that they can all dream about how the great leader would impose their own will on society if only he were in charge of everything.

Thus pride, humility’s opposite, undoes us.  For the leader we choose will be like ourselves.  If we are prideful, our leader will not long act on our behalf.  For once he has secured his power, our leader will impose his will, not our own, upon society and, of course, ourselves.

The End

This is the last post in a three part essay.  Links to parts 1 and 2 are provided below.

• Part 1 — What is Conservatism?
• Part 2 — Why does experience make one more Conservative?

Note that Crystal Clear Conservative posts the latest Gallup Poll on the trend towards Conservatisms.

The Cartoons

Even Barack Obama was not sufficiently — umm, progressive — for some people.  I trust that they are happy now.

At the rate things are going, this is about the only way Obama will cut spending.