At the heart of the conservative ethic, we believe that the truth supersedes opinion, because of this we must also believe that our ideas and political positions are always subject to scrutiny. We are perpetually obligated to test what we believe against those things we hold to be properly basic (assumed to be true, without testing) to our beliefs, or else we surely cannot be said to be conservative.

What are those things that conservatives consider properly basic to our philosophical framework? The first properly basic idea is for something to be true, it must necessarily be objectively true. We accept that what is true cannot vary from person to person, nation to nation, or culture to culture. What we want, whether it be based on opinion or emotion, is simply superseded by what is.

The second properly basic conservative idea is that a just society necessarily requires four cardinal virtues, each of which form the basis of Natural Law. Every man, woman, and child on the planet is entitled to a right to his or her life, a right to his or her liberty, a right to his or her property, and a right to the protection by the objective rule of law from the capricious will of other people and even society.

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
– Aristotle

Rejection of either of these properly basic precepts is necessarily self refuting. How can one assert that there is no objective truth? The very assertion against objective truths depends on the claim being objectively true, which is a logical paradox. Even the left never shuts up about their rights, so the existence of individual rights can be fairly said to be uncontroversial to anyone not insane or insipid.

So what do we do with these two fundamentally properly basic assumptions? That is the fundamental question of our political movement and has been the primary problem of our age. The one thing that conservatives cannot and must not do is compromise on any element of these two assumptions fundamental to our beliefs. If we cannot hold to these two basic beliefs, then how can we expect anyone else to?

When we look at the state of our nation and the world, it should be obvious to all classically informed conservatives that many among us have very much lost their way. It’s time to reinject the conservative ethic back into the American culture, and that starts with a personal commitment to these ideas, one individual at a time.

Liberty is For The Win!