What Can the Tories Teach Us?

There was a very interesting column in Friday’s New York Times by columnist David Brooks asserting that the balance of power in the Conservative intellectual movement has shifted from the United States to England.  While Brooks raises some interesting points that American conservatives should consider, I question whether the evidence he cites actually supports his premise.

There is no doubt that the recent success of the Conservative Party in England is a welcome change from the stranglehold that the Labour Party has had there.  Further, this victory on the heels of conservative victories in Germany, France, Italy and elsewhere may well signal a sea change in favor of more conservative government across England.  Brooks defines the conversion this way:

The British conservative renovation begins with this insight: The central political debate of the 20th century was over the role of government. The right stood for individual freedom while the left stood for extending the role of the state. But the central debate of the 21st century is over quality of life. In this new debate, it is necessary but insufficient to talk about individual freedom. Political leaders have to also talk about, as one Tory politician put it, “the whole way we live our lives.”

While this is indeed intruiging, it only goes so far as to explain why conservatism has been successful again in England, but does not go far enough to support the conclusion that American conservatism has been surpassed by its European counterpart.

I agree with some of Brooks’ argument.  Many American conservatives remain too sentimentially attached to the success of the Reagan years and have not made the transistion to fighting the intellectual battles of the 21st Century.  Further, many have failed to find the right formula to make conservatism palatable to a 21st century audience.  In short, we need to make sure that we are not just talking about the ideas we are comfortable talking about, but rather that we are talking about the things people actually care about.

That said, I am unconvinced that the balance of power of conservative thought has fled American shores.  Yes, the losses of figures like Reagan and Buckley are great and their leadership is irreplacable.  Yet, there remain many smart and talented conservatives here in the States who are working diligently to spark a revival of our own.  One need not survey a very distant landscape to witness a new generation of conservative foot soldiers arising.

The success of conservatism abroad is certainly to be cheered, but we should be careful not to simply mimic what works elsewhere and hope it produces the same results here.  On this final point I concur with Brooks: “The only question is whether Republicans will learn those lessons sooner, or whether they will learn them later, after a decade or so in the wilderness.”  In other words, American conservatism must remain something that resonates with Americans, or else it won’t matter how pretty the package is.

Category: Catch-All