Conservatism

Adam Dzierwa
Professor Leo
20/10/09

A Comparison of Fascism and Conservatism

After examining a few very descriptive resources that explain what conservatism implies and what conservative politicians tend to believe and support, I have come to the conclusion that conservatism is not a form of fascism. And this is even despite that fact that conservatism and its principles can have varied and different meanings and ideas within different societal and cultural contexts. Also thanks to the information that I now have on fascism, it is clear to me that fascism revolves around one central element, violence. It builds its principles upon racialism, victimization, forcible oppression, idealism, dictatorship, populism, and a strong state. Conservatism, however, not even in its most extreme form, has none of these particular elements. I will clarify what I mean below.

Firstly, there are different schools of conservatism that are either more to the left or to the right on the conservative half of the political spectrum. There is rational conservatism, skeptical conservatism, and pluralistic conservatism. The first group believes that there is a moral order in reality, that political arrangements that are in support of this order foster good lives, and that any that conflict with it are only bound to make a society worse. It tends to take a lot from historical record and experience and uses such knowledge to keep everything that was historically good for a society functioning in the present alongside new ideas that also work. Skeptical conservatism revolves around reliance on faith and the rejection of reason. This form of conservatism is most predominant in the US. In other words, all reasoning for this circle is based on assumptions that can only be supported with faith; and questioning historical arrangements via new metaphysical viewpoints is seen as unreliable. As for pluralistic conservatism, this body supports the idea of a moral order in reality, but denies that reliable knowledge of it can be obtained unlike the rational conservatives. Pluralistic conservatives will try to filter out the bad elements in society, but would stress that the central order on which society operates simply could not be dissected even with rational examination. Hence there is more chance placed on their operations than with rational conservatives.

To distinguish and conclude most precisely on this subject, conservatives do believe, somewhat like fascists, that there is a stream of values and institutions that must be distinguished and defended from being overrun by any others and will also tend to privilege the collective over the individual, at least on a local communal level. However, from this point onward the conservative shifts gears in an almost completely different direction from the fascist. For amongst the core attributes of fascism are support of a strong state government with a virtual monopoly over influence in people’s lives, the use of mass mobilization of the masses to achieve ends, a strong idealist movement, and the need for internal cleansing and external expansion. Any conservative, no matter how radical, would never want to adopt any of these principles for governing a society. The conservative tends to favour limited government, along with a very realist view of life and society. He believes in the freedom of forming vital voluntary associations and shun any policy that inhibits the protection of private property or forces an individual into a system against his/her own will. It is all based around the idea of equilibrium, not charging up and then unleashing potential energy in order to change society by radical or revolutionary means. As for fascism, not only is it more or less irrational in a number of extremes given its violent nature, but it is in itself no less a violent plan of action than a political philosophy. Its entire scope includes obtaining the power of the masses in order to support a more or less authoritarian form of government. Conservatives stress a move towards rather more authoritative forms of government instead of authoritarian forms. Lastly, conservatives will always examine political plans for any possibility of unintended consequences in the future. The fascist will not do this, for to accomplish revenge and expansion, it is believed that you should try going beyond your limit without considering the consequences. Conservatism is orderly and fascism is radical; the former rational, the latter irrational. That is far and away the simplest way to put it all together.