3.1.4 Response: Classical Conservatism

 

How many times have you heard an older person say, "It's not like the good old days" or "The world is going to hell in a handbasket"?

When people are confronted with change, they often think that things would be better if society could just go back to another era. The same was true with classical liberalism. People or movements that reject change in favour of returning to a previous way of doing things are considered reactionary.  As discussed in Unit One, classical conservatives sit on the right side of the political spectrum. 

The Luddites were one group of reactionaries. While they committed violence, another group of people reacting negatively to this new change were classical conservatives. They did not want to commit violence. But classical conservatives, whose most famous thinker was Edmund Burke, believed in the positive legacy of the past.

They believed that the institutions of their time, such as political systems, the military, and the Church, were products of years of thought and labour. These traditions were considered vital aspects of society, and should not be discarded in favour of new ideas. They also believed that people do not all have equal abilities and, therefore, a nation's leaders should be chosen by an elite group who have special rights and privileges.

As you read about classical conservatism, take notes on the following:

 

Inference	Evidence
Where? The courtyard of an old building	arched stone wall high windows
When? Event occurred in the past, but cartoon was made in the modern day	clothing is old-fashioned witch hunting is not practised any more but fox hunting is cartoon style is modern day
Who? Rich people	only rich people hunt foxes by their clothing, horses the large house they are leaving
What? People are going fox hunting	they are on horseback wearing hunting clothes have hounds with them caption says they are going fox hunting
Ideological Perspective: Modern Liberalism	suggesting the upper classes are stupid because they believe in hunting foxes and witches
Links to Liberalism: Individual Rights and Freedoms-and end to the class structure	supports individual rights and freedoms by making fun of the activities of the upper classes (witch hunting, fox hunting)