THE BLESSINGS:

Populism and nationalism are each their own thing, however, and the mix with conservatism only comes about haphazardly, awkwardly, and with no small amount of peril. At root, conservatism is about conserving the best of the past, conserving all things humane, and promoting the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. Perhaps most importantly, conservatism is a term demanding the recognition of the mores, norms, habits, customs, and traditions of association (family, church, etc.), and community. It means conserving the philosophy of Socrates and Aquinas, the literature of Chaucer and Shakespeare, the imagination of Virgil and Dante, and the politics of Aristotle and Cicero.

As the debate rages across the internet, there's no reason not to go back to the founder of post-war conservatism, Russell Kirk (1918-1994).

"'Conservatism,' as a term of politics, signified originally the guardianship of ancient liberties," Kirk wrote in Continuity in its introductory issue, 1982. This definition--one to which Kirk gave a lifetime of thought--is the most succinct one he ever offered. While it's not a complete way of thinking, it is a good one.

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