LAW & LIBERTY
By: James M. Patterson
Since Russell Kirk and Richard Weaver published their canonical texts on American conservatism, subsequent authors have felt compelled to ground their arguments in the history of ideas. These later authors have not always measured up to their forebears, as they frequently resorted to the now-exhausted narrative of decline and promise. It goes something like this: Once upon a time, Americans were conservative, but then some bad ideas made them progressive. Now, a small number of us—we few, we happy few—are conservative by the grace of the Law of Nature and Nature’s God, and we stand poised to reintroduce the old ideas to defeat progressives and make Americans conservative again.
Some of these narratives precede the Founding, like the arrival of the Puritans, the discovery of the New World, or the Reformation. Poor old William of Ockham thought he was just having a theological debate, not tipping the first small domino that would lead to the collapse of Western civilization.
