Skip to main content

Holding Firm to a Conservative Mind When Facing the Borg

     I have never acted to conceal the truth that I am a Trekkie. Additionally, I have never hidden my conviction that I am a traditionalist and a conservative in the way defined by Russell Kirk. While there are thematic and ideological elements worthy of criticism in the Star Trek worldview, there is much that can be redeemed. On the 60th anniversary of Russell Kirk's magnum opus, The Conservative Mind, it is certainly worth the time and energy to revisit this essential reading. My reexamination of the key points in this most important work has been shaped recently, in part, by my rethinking of how much some of our current political, cultural, and social moment is reminiscent of the Borg.
     While there is much for mind and soul in this volume, I would like to rethink the essence of conservatism, as discovered by Russell Kirk, and contrast it with collectivism and consumerism as an antidote to these contemporary toxins. No doubt many have been taken with Kirk's examination of conservatism by simply understanding the six canons of conservatism he proposes. Before we look at these, it is worth remembering that at the heart of Kirk's conservatism is the assertion that "The essence of social conservatism is preservation of the ancient moral traditions of humanity."
     Russell Kirk, "the benevolent sage of Mecosta," does indeed serve us as a most worthy example and guide. From the true statesman Edmund Burke through the literary giant T.S. Eliot, those desire to know what authentic conservatism is and is not, Kirk said, that in "a world that damns tradition, exalts equality, and welcomes change..." the conservative mind must be made known. For those who may not know of the infamous Borg, their notorious reputation comes from their nature to assimilate, by force, other species into their collective and compel them into "the hive mind." The new collectivism that Kirk and others warned about is equivalent to a group think. All attempts to offer dissent from the collective is not tolerated. 
     Returning to Kirk's The Conservative Mind, here is a summary (one must really savor Kirk's fuller explication) of his six "canons of conservatism:"
  • Belief in a transcendent order (not surprisingly rooted in tradition, divine revelation, or natural law);
  • Affection for the "variety and mystery" of human existence;
  • Conviction that society requires orders and classes that emphasize "natural" distinctions;
  • Persuasion that property and freedom are linked;
  • Faith in custom, convention, and prescription, and
  • Recognition that change may not be salutary reform and traditions as well as customs must be considered before political action is deemed prudential.
Add to the above six canons, Kirk's five characteristics of "radicalism since 1790" and you get a sense of both the meaning of conservatism and its enemies.
  • The perfectibility of man and the illimitable progress of society;
  • Contempt for tradition;
  • Political leveling;
  • Economic leveling;
  • Common radical view of the state's function.
     Without being reductionistic, one might be able to propose that the essential difference between the conservative mind and the radical (progressive) mind, is regarding givenness of what is. The conservative sees and embraces natural diversity and distinction and aspires to yield to what is. The radical, mocking the very notion of givenness, acts to construct a tower to the heavens and force everyone to join the project. Again, referencing the Borgs and comparing to the radicals, they insist on sameness. 
     While resistance to the modern political, cultural, and social Borg may be futile, it is imperative that all those who treasure the humane, must resist as long as possible and not give into the modern social construction of human reality.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

How Twitter Killed Tolstoy or Why You Will Likely Not Finish this Blog

     My favorite fictional Professor, aptly described the end of learning. Faber, tells how his class went from Sven Birkerts The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction Alan Jacobs Slow Reading in a Hurried Age David Mikics Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital Age Naimi S. Baron My own experience parallels that of Professor Faber. With declining Liberal Arts majors and distracted Great Books students.... Our lives have become as thin as the thinnest flat screen TV. There is a hollowness to our public discourses and our private conversations. It is not surprising how the tone, texture, and content of our verbal exchanges mimic posts on our dominate social media or the headline stories Of course, the title of this blog could have been any of the following: How Instagram Killed How Vine Killed How Facebook Killed How Google+ Killed How LinkedIn Killed
Read more

My Interview with William James on the New Atheists

      Ok , I begin with a disclaimer. This is not an actual interview in the technical sense. Since William James passed from this world in 1910, many decades before I was even born, it is not possible that I interviewed him. However, here is what really did happen. After spending the last few months pouring over key books by Professor James, it caught up with my unconscious mind and I did indeed dream that I met him and we talked. The following is an imagined conversation based on significant engagement with some of his writings and an unusual dream.  Robert Woods: This is a most unexpected honor to meet you Dr. James and be able to ask you some questions about some things you have written. William James: My pleasure. I am glad to discover that some are still reading my writings. Woods: I think what most impresses me about your education is that you are a philosopher and psychologist, but were trained as a physician which gives you an extraordinary ...
Read more

Faith, Hope, and Love in a Culture of Death: Lois Lowry's The Giver as Film

Let's begin with the film's single greatest obstacle: the culture Philip Rieff described as "the death culture" is not likely to assemble en masse to pay for viewing a morality tale. A central message in this film is that we have become "shadows." Indeed, those immersed in our death culture do not likely have ears to hear and eyes to see the hollow selves we currently are. In a time such as ours, where very little if anything signifies, it is not probable this movie will be understood. At one key moment The Giver declares, "we are living a life of shadows, of echoes." This sentence captures the essence of the death culture. Add to that the following minor problem of our nearly national obsession with spectacle, as evidenced in news shows and recent popular YA movies such as The Hunger Games and Divergent . It is clear our current death culture is taken with the dystopian novel and dystopian movie version of said novel as long as it provides ...
Read more