A credo for pessimistic conservatism
After enduring the four-day Hopeapalooza, this wonderful Derbyshire post goes down like a Sierra Nevada at the end of the day. The long pull-quote is worth it:
Every age has its characteristic follies, and those follies have their correctives. The folly of the present age in America is a facile, infantile optimism, that recognizes no limits to human abilities or the wonders that can be wrought by politicians, bureaucrats, and generals. The corrective is a firm, measured pessimism.
The natural home of that fool’s optimism in this age is the political Left, so the corrective must come from the Right.
There is also of course a fool’s pessimism. In this age, however, it presents no danger. We are so awash in preposterous smiley-face optimism, we should welcome anything that counters it.
Optimism helped build this nation. Yes, we can clear the forest, tame the prairies, fight off the Indians. Yes, we can build heavier-than-air flying machines, land on the Moon, defeat fascism and communism. Yes, we can prosper without the horror and indignity of slavery. I am sure there were pessimists who said those things could not be done. They were wrong; and thoughful persons, including thoughtful pessimists, knew at the time that they were wrong.
Today, however, American optimism has got completely out of hand. A corrective is needed. The corrective must come from conservatives, the people who understand that “human nature has no history.” We must revive the fine tradition of conservative pessimism. In this age, optimism is for children and fools. And liberals.
Some children will be left behind. You cannot “remake the Middle East” or “defeat evil.” The poor will always be with us. Black and white will never mingle together in unselfconscious harmony. Corporations will not research and explore without hope of profit. Russia will not become Sweden. Forty million immigrants speaking a single language will not assimilate.
Conservatives used to know all this. Some — the infallibly sapient Roger Kimball, for example — still do. The smiley-faces are leading us to perdition. They must be shouted down.
Yes, we can!
No, you can’t, you bloody fools.
I disagree – the problem isn’t optimism, it’s *collective* optimism, or collective thinking in general. People, not societies, achieve great things. Some black and white people will intermingle, some immigrants will assimilate, some corporations will be philanthropic (and their stocks will go up as a result of shareholders who have a flair for philanthropy). Certainly, though, there’s nothing “we” can do to make any of those things happen on a larger scale.
Conservative (collective) pessimism seems to me to amount to maintaining the status quo… and being a total curmudgeon about it. “You damn kids, you don’t know how good you’ve got it now!”
Come on, Evan, cheer up, don’t be so pessimistic! ;P
Your favorite optimist,
Libby