Conservative Liberalism, its Discontents and the Menace of Fascism

Conservative liberalism is a marriage of conservative philosophy and liberal institutions that fashions the latter in line with the premises and requirements of the former. Pessimistic about "human nature," and anxious to preserve "social order," in the view of its proponents it limits freedom and democracy in order to save them, as by, fearful of demagogues rising to high office, instituting checks on the conduct of elected officials beyond easy reach of the voters (like indirectly elected Senators, the review of legislation by a hierarchy of appointed judges, and selection of a President by an "Electoral College").

Others to their left taking a different view of the matter. Rather than this being about reconciling legals freedom and the institutions of democracy with human nature what this approach to liberalism has really been about is reconciling legal freedoms and the institutions of democracy with the protection of the prerogatives of the rich and powerful few at the top--the "social order" an euphemism for the hierarchy among the unequal, and the powers and privileges of the society's elite. At its worst such a situation is a matter of a society being liberal in form but an oligarchy in substance, with the oligarchical substance quickly becoming evident when the order is under pressure. Faced with a social movement demanding change, the gloves often come off, so to speak, the respect for "freedom of speech" suddenly proving to be "freedom of speech" insofar as those on Authority approve the speech--while if fascism as seen from this quarter denotes not mere authoritarianism but a particular flavor of authoritarianism (central to this authoritarianism is its method of combating a revolutionary mobilization of the public with a reactionary one, as government stabilizes the economy in favor of elites with a hand they may find uncomfortably heavy even when it is fundamentally friendly to their interests), this is still essentially what is going on.

It all makes for a significant contrast with more conservative liberals' views of where it is from which fascism it makes for a very significant difference in how they appraise that threat--and explain the events of the past. Thus, rather than considering, for example, how Hitler ultimately owed his rise to the backing of Big Business in his country and abroad in the face of a perceived threat from the left to their interests, they prefer to such class- and interest-based explanations reference to the evils of human nature, the irrationality of "the mob," the dangers of getting them whipped up, and the specificities of culture and the role of "Great Men" (a category including Great Villains as well as Great Heroes) as they talk about the supposedly unique conditions of Central Europe, and the distinct figure of Hitler, and how much it is a lesson in the foolishness of ever letting politics be anything but a genteel affair carried out amongst the comfortable without thought for the needs of the poor.