Conservatism Versus Traditionalism

Practically every Traditionalist started their political life as a Conservative. But what we come to understand is that the term Conservative is a confusing one as it has multiple meanings.

1. It is an outlook, a temperament

2. It signifies someone who is political and who is to the Right of centre

3. It signifies someone who is a Right Liberal 

These things are not the same, in fact some are mutually exclusive, strangely they can still overlap. It gives the impression that Conservatism can be very powerful, but it makes the common mistake of putting all of these people together. In reality of the three groups:

1. These people are not political so they are not of much practical use

2. These people think of themselves as Conservatives but they still tend to hold onto one/two/three Liberal ideas without even realising it. All people are equal, civic nationalism, Feminism, etc.

3. These people are full on Liberals, who might hold on to a few non Liberal ideas

We might be able to recruit from 1., but only if they are prepared to start thinking politically. That doesn't mean we don't need to appeal to them we do, but not if it costs us. Our aim with them is to move the Overton Window, so that they can passively support us. We need this group to write letters to the editor, argue at parties and to talk amongst their friends and in the workplace on our behalf. To normalise our ideas and to make them seem like everyday common sense thinking. Nothing scary or radical at all. We also need this group to make sure we do not become scary or radical. 

The group we can recruit from are 2., these people can be persuaded through logic and reason. But remember how hard it has been for you (and me) to reject the programming that we are all subjected to. It is a step by step process that people can only move along at the pace that they are comfortable with. By comfortable, I mean the path that causes them the least pain. Once you have reached a certain point, or to put it another way once you have taken the red pill, then forward is the least painful route. We need to be there to help guide them. 

Group 3. are our enemies and we need to never forget that. We can still ally with these people for particular campaigns and we should. But we should never be surprised that they are not really on our side in the long term.

Conservatism has a long history of failing and it fails for three particular reasons. Firstly it is divided against itself and it doesn't realise this. Secondly you cannot ask Liberals to defeat Liberalism and expect any successful outcome, that is exactly what has been happening for far too long. Thirdly, it doesn't have an endpoint, there is no goal to work towards. Every other political philosophy has an endpoint, it is working towards a goal. Which means that it has a logic, a logical progression that every adherent can follow and work towards.

If Traditionalism is to have a future it needs an endgoal, it needs to become a logic that everyone who supports it can work towards. Unlike the other political philosophies it cannot be Utopian. Utopianism is a false God that promises something that can only lead to disaster. Traditionalism needs to be about balance not perfection. Our endgoal cannot be an endpoint because even in the best of all possible Traditionalist worlds perfection will not exist. As we understand that it cannot exist. 

Of all of the political philosophies Traditionalism is the only one that believes in the future, it is the only one who believes that there will be a future. That's a pretty big trump card!

To Help Support My Work

https://www.subscribestar.com/upon-hope

Upon Hope Blog - A Traditional Conservative Future

Another Article You Might Like?

https://uponhopeblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/australian-suicide-bomber.html

Where To Traditionalism?

Lets start with my journey.

In the late 1980's, when I was in my late teens, I was a Conservative. I rejected Feminism and Immigration, but I accepted a lot of mainstream ideas. But I also knew that things were going to get worse as there was no real opposition to the Left and I thought if only someone else would get things organised then things would turn around. I also thought that in thirty or so years many of the ideas the Left pushed would be mainstream. That seemed a lot time away, today it's today!

In the 1990's I remember thinking that things were changing, I could feel it, but I didn't know if those changes would be good or bad. I kept waiting for the Right to get moving, to fight back but it never happened.

Only in the last decade did I decide that maybe I was part of the problem, maybe I should stop waiting for someone else to fix these problems. Maybe I could do something, maybe doing something was better than doing nothing. Which lead to fear and doubt. Did I have anything to contribute? Hadn't it all been said already? Was I good enough?

But on the flip side it takes a bit of arrogance to think that you can change the world and I guess I was/am that arrogant. Like many others before me I thought that if I put it the right way then people would come flocking. Like a magic spell, the right words arranged in the correct way would make magic. Instead like all those who study, magic or otherwise, I found that it was lonely work filled with self-doubt and sometimes insight. But I was fortunate in one regard, I realised even before I began that this was a long term project. That once started that it would be hard to finish.

I also wanted to know why things had gone so wrong, why did the government go along with it, even encourage it?

Mark Richardson of Oz Conservative had been doing this a long time and he had become fond of the word Traditionalist. He suggested that we should call ourselves Traditionalists, but I resisted the idea. I didn't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire. It seemed old fashioned, it seemed like it pointed to the past, it even seemed like it was a way of avoiding our current problems. But it was also clear that what we believed had some very big differences from what most people called Conservatism. It took a good while before I accepted that he was right, we had moved beyond Conservatism, we still had things in common but we also had things that it was better to give a different name to.

When I was a Conservative however, I felt like I was part of that fabled silent majority. Sure it was annoyingly silent but it was the majority. Since I became a Traditionalist I have felt exactly the opposite. That I really am an outsider and it has alienated me even further than I already felt from so much of society. As time has gone on I have come to believe that maybe we are the start of something. That while we write and talk about beliefs that are old, even ancient, even eternal, we are not doing it to an existing audience but to one that we are helping to create.

Maybe that is the arrogance speaking, maybe it's the self-doubt, maybe it's an insight, I'm not certain.

Russel Kirks ten conservative principles are a must read for anyone on the Right, if you haven't read this short article you really should do so. It's a great place to start.

 Perhaps it would be well, most of the time, to use this word “conservative” as an adjective chiefly. For there exists no Model Conservative, and conservatism is the negation of ideology: it is a state of mind, a type of character, a way of looking at the civil social order.

Ever since I first read it I have wondered if he is right about this point. Is it true that Conservatism is not a ideology and by extension Traditionalism?

If so isn't it a bit like going into a knife fight unarmed?

In my dictionary Ideology is defined as:

"the organized system of beliefs or way of thinking of a person or group."

Is Hinduism an ideology?

Are members of a ghost hunting group ideologies?

Most people think of ideology as something that is political, I'd agree. Further I think that the best way to think of an ideology is a political philosophy that believes in a Utopia. That believes that it is possible to create perfect people living within a perfect economic system overseen by a perfect political system. Human life without human problems.

Traditionalism absolutely reject any such outcome, which means that we are not an ideology. But it does leave us open to the charge that we don't have any plans for the future. It also leaves us open to the charge that we are a bit wishy-washy. With no firm beliefs or agendas. Something that cannot be said for the ideologies.

I think it was necessary for us to step away from Conservatism. I further think that it was necessary for us to work on what we really believe and to look at what we want the world to look like. We have answered why things have gotten so bad, we have provided ideas on moving forward, but we need to do much more work on policy. How do we create the world that we want and how to we expose our ideas to a wider audience?

We also have a dilemma, we no longer support the current order, but we are not revolutionaries. As I have said elsewhere this is our civilization and the institutions that exist were created by our ancestors for our use and protection. How do we regain control or even influence over these institutions?

Are we an ideology?

Do we need to become an ideology?

We need to think on these points as I fear that when the time comes from us to act we will not be ready. We really need to be ready when our time comes.


To Help Support My Work
https://www.subscribestar.com/upon-hope


Upon Hope Blog - A Traditional Conservative Future
Another Article You Might Like?
Communism - Melbourne Traditionalists Podcast - Episode Forty Seven   

I am One - Melbourne Traditionalists Podcast - Episode Fifty Two

This is the First Birthday for the podcast. In this episode I talk about the back end of the podcast, including statistics on how well it has done. I must apologise as there are some small gaps in my talking as i'm waiting for various pages to load.


Length: 28 minutes


Click on the link and enjoy!

To Help Support My Work

https://www.subscribestar.com/upon-hope

Upon Hope Blog - A Traditional Conservative Future

Another Article You Might Like?

Why Are There So Many Cowards?

Liberalism is "Nice"

One of the things that I keep encountering is that people want to be nice. Not just to fit in but they want to be able to say, particularly to themselves, I'm a good person. Religion once fitted that role. Once it was acceptable to say 'that person is a good Christian", which meant that they were a good person. Muslims still think this way. But for the rest of us we live in a secular society and that appeal to a higher being is no longer accepted, even by Christians.

Instead we must prove that we are good.

Traditionally men did that by deed, they did things that were good for their community. For women they needed to be good, to be modest, compassionate, loving, considerate, nice. They needed to push their baser nature down and to show the world their higher nature. Men were also encouraged to do this but for men it can work as much against him as it can for him, that is rarely true for a women. But even women who do not seek their higher nature still like to think that they do. In other words even when they are bad they still like to think of themselves as good.

Liberalism has always had a feminine nature, even when it was nearly all male. It wants issues to be sorted by consensus, not by leadership. It dislikes confrontation, instead it wants to get it's way as much as possible through that consensus. It uses emotion and words to push through their agenda, threats, bullying, appeals are all used and acceptable. They do not like violence except in the most extreme of circumstances. They like to look like they are the most reasonable and most importantly, the nicest political philosophy that there is.

Actually they have succeeded in that, most people do believe that they are the nice political philosophy, the only one any modern civilized person could support and subscribe too. So as Liberalism destroys our civilization, our society, economy, the past and the future and even in many cases our own personal lives, many people cannot see past the idea that Liberal is nice.

How is that possible?

It does it by always putting forward it's best face, by couching it's words in such a way that it is inoffensive. When it fails, and it does fail, then they simply try again. They put out the same message in a way that is now even more inoffensive. You know they are lying but you also know that most people will accept it. On the Right we are blunt, a mistake that Liberalism rarely makes.

Take no-fault divorce as an example. There were no street marches, or riots or in fact any type of public campaign anywhere for no-fault divorce. Instead it was brought in behind the scenes, barely talked about in public. It was presented as a gift to the people, something that gave them choices and as something that made them freer. People were trapped in loveless marriages, violent marriages, parents arguments destroyed their children's childhood, people were even murdered in bad marriages. No-fault divorce could solve all of these social ills.

But it didn't and it never could. Instead it turned men and women against each other, it turned children against a parent, sometimes both. In short it smashed families to pieces. But you will never hear a Liberal tell you that, no, they will tell you that it is unfortunate and that it makes them terribly sad, but people need to be freed from bad marriages. To save some we must sacrifice many. Ohhh they'll never put it like that either!

Take free-trade as another example. Again there was no public campaign, again it was all done behind closed doors. Public discussions on issues that had already been decided. Again it was presented as a great way to get export industries booming, to get imports at cheaper prices and to top it all off international trade promotes peace. Are any of these true? It's not important, what is important is that they are nice.

Every issue that you can think of Liberalism has an argument for and it is nearly always nice. Something a good person could support. Sure they might made a mistake or speak to harshly at times. But that isn't normal, normally they put their best foot forward, normally they make sure that they say things nicely. People like nice, even when it's a lie....maybe even more so!


To Help Support My Work
https://www.subscribestar.com/upon-hope


Upon Hope Blog - A Traditional Conservative Future
Another Article You Might Like?
Conservative Economics 

How The World War's Started - Melbourne Traditionalists Podcast - Episode Fifty One

In this longer than normal episode I talk about how Germany's decisions lead to the two world wars. I also talk about President Trump and the US Supreme Court.


Length: 45 minutes

Click on the link and enjoy!

As an added bonus check this out, Less than 2 minutes long.

When Wokes and Racists Actually Agree on Everything

To Help Support My Work

https://www.subscribestar.com/upon-hope

Upon Hope Blog - A Traditional Conservative Future

Another Article You Might Like?

Coronapanic - Melbourne Traditionalists Podcast - Episode Fifty

Where Are Our Leaders?

In Science-Fiction there is an often told story of a ships crew going to a Utopian planet. The people are at peace and all of their needs are taken care of by a computer. It makes the decisions and it provides everything that the people need. However the computer is dying or malfunctioning and control must return to the planets inhabitants. Utopia has ended.

Today we look around much like the people in that Science-Fiction story, we wonder how the world that we thought existed has come to an end. We have come to realize that the people who we elect to represent us in Parliament, don't really represent us. That the schools that should teach us are not interested in either us or in knowledge. That those who should be in charge of our moral and spiritual lives aren't interested in those things. In short the people who are supposed to be our leaders aren't doing their job at all.

We are alone trying to work out everything ourselves. Because we cannot rely upon what we are told or shown as so much of it is false. That's not normal or good, it shows the perversity that we all must endure. The reality is that we don't have leaders anymore. Leaders are not the people in charge, they are the people who take charge, the people who take responsibility. Leaders lead, but we are not lead instead we are managed and manipulated, lied to and treated like fools.

Leaders develop personal relationships with those who follow them, but we are just numbers, voters, consumers, take your pick or pick all of them. The Prime Minister is not a leader, nor is the Premier, nor the team captain. Everyone refuses to lead as that simply gets them in trouble. Don't rock the boat, don't create waves, that's the way to get ahead. Everywhere I look I see a lack of leadership, everywhere.

Of course leaders also have responsibilities, they are allowed to make mistakes, to show initiative, they are allowed to have passion and to be human. But today that isn't allowed. Instead we are told that mistakes are unforgivable. Personal failings are unforgivable. In fact people are not even allowed to have responsibilities, how many times has something gone wrong and no one takes responsibility?

You electricity bill is wrong, but you speak to a phone operator who is not responsible at all. If you get angry and yell at them they are not responsible. In fact not a single person at the electricity company will be responsible. Some mysterious force that no one can identify will be at fault, but no actual person. We see this everywhere, no one is responsible, because mistakes are unforgivable. So we are managed and manipulated, but not lead.

How do we create leaders when to make a mistake is unforgivable?

We must accept that men are flawed, you, me, every man. That leaders are not perfect men because no such man can exist.

That leaders accept responsibility, so give men responsibilities.

That leaders require followers and those followers need to be loyal. Not sycophant's who agree with everything and give false praise. Loyalty doesn't mean that, it means giving honest support, it means not rejecting them when things get hard, it means that loyalty goes both ways.

That we all need honesty, honesty that is mixed with empathy.

We need to encourage looking after our own, in every way.

Finally we need to stop being so individualistic!

We need to stop attacking our enemies with our individual fingers and instead to roll our fingers into a ball. That fist is a much better weapon then any broken fingers could ever be.


To Help Support My Work
https://www.subscribestar.com/upon-hope


Upon Hope Blog - A Traditional Conservative Future
Another Article You Might Like?
Why Adultery Should Be Against The Law 

Link Love XIII

13, unlucky for some, but someone had to get put into number 13. As I have not been writing as such as I should be. As I want to. Here are some links to things that I have found to be quite good.

In the past two months in particular Mr. Neal over at Throne, Altar, Liberty has been writing up a storm. These three are excellent, but considering how much he has been writing it was hard to pick and it was hard to keep it down to three!

The Father

Scrap Social Sciences - Especially Sociology

The Subversion of Anthropology

An interesting idea to think on

The Original View of Original Sin

A view from The Atlantic magazine in 1903 on why women don't want the vote

Why Women Do Not Wish The Suffrage

The Franco-Prussian was started a fews day ago, 150 years ago. This article talks about why it's still important.

https://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2020/July/44/7/magazine/article/10886564/

The Tory Tradition, something every Traditionalists should know.

https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2020/07/tory-tradition-michael-connolly.html?utm_source=The%20Imaginative%20Conservative%20(Daily)&utm_campaign=62749370ac-Today%27s%20Essays&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b25fb6fc69-62749370ac-132489005&mc_cid=62749370ac&mc_eid=c16b119206&fbclid=IwAR3Ng-iZTU777NoYYnW999N5mzp7qh9re1GRD3d0VnWnY01XCmPD8JsR05I

Why we stopped trusting 'experts'

https://unherd.com/2020/07/why-we-stopped-trusting-experts/?fbclid=IwAR091Ibci6pE9AI4n4fgmidBpavGNhNAov-8CCglL_d7FhHsKgDa1YeJJig

To Help Support My Work

https://www.subscribestar.com/upon-hope

Upon Hope Blog - A Traditional Conservative Future

Another Article You Might Like?

https://uponhopeblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/liberal-economics-beginnings.html