Both Conservative and Liberal: The Emerging Option
Are you conservative or liberal? Don't let the media pundits convince you that you must be one or the other. Why not be both?
On the conservative side, let Roger Scruton’s understanding of conservatism be the guide. In How to Be a Conservative, he writes:
“Human beings, in their settled condition, are animated by oikophilia: the love of the oikos, which means not only the home but the people contained in it, and the surrounding settlements that endow that home with lasting contours and an enduring smile. The oikos is the place that is not just mine and yours but ours. It is the stage-set for the first-person plural of politics, the locus, both real and imagined, where ‘it all takes place’. Virtues like thrift and self-sacrifice, the habit of offering and receiving respect, the sense of responsibility—all those aspects of the human condition that shape us as stewards and guardians of our common inheritance—arise through our growth as persons, by creating islands of value in the sea of price. To acquire these virtues we must circumscribe the ‘instrumental reasoning’ that governs the life of Homo oeconomicus. We must vest our love and desire in things to which we assign an intrinsic, rather than an instrumental, value, so that the pursuit of means can come to rest, for us, in a place of ends. That is what we mean by settlement: putting the oikos back in the oikonomia. And that is what conservatism is about.”
On the liberal side, let Alexander Lefebvre be your guide. In Liberalism as a Way of Life, he outlines seventeen, often personal and practical, benefits of adopting a liberal mindset, all of which are compatible with oikophilia.
- Impartiality — Liberalism trains you to judge fairly rather than simply in your own interest.
- Autonomy — Liberalism helps you live as a self-directing person who reflects and chooses for yourself even as you are informed by wisdom from the past.
- Anti-snobbery — Liberalism discourages looking down on others because of status, class, or background.
- Playfulness — Liberalism allows you to hold your identity and opinions with lightness rather than rigidity.
- Stalwartness — Liberalism strengthens your ability to stand firm in your principles under pressure.
- Feeling at home in society — Liberalism enables you to feel comfortable living among people who are different from you.
- Gratitude — Liberalism cultivates appreciation for the freedoms and institutions that sustain your life.
- Self-coherence — Liberalism encourages your beliefs and actions to fit together in an integrated way.
- Avoidance of hypocrisy — Liberalism challenges you to align your conduct with your stated values.
- Humility — Liberalism reminds you that you may be wrong and that others deserve a hearing.
- Unity of the self — Liberalism helps you become inwardly steady rather than fragmented across roles.
- Gracefulness — Liberalism fosters restraint and tact in moments of disagreement or conflict.
- Delight in others — Liberalism encourages genuine enjoyment of people unlike yourself.
- Tolerance — Liberalism trains you to live peacefully with deep disagreement.
- Civility — Liberalism promotes respectful conduct in public and private life.
- Cheer — Liberalism supports an affirmative and hopeful stance toward shared life.
- Redemption — Liberalism keeps open the possibility that people can change and relationships can be repaired.