Sir Roger Scruton and Conservatism

P&C relish Celebrator Dopplebock, one of the most amazing beers on the planet, then discuss Sir Roger Scruton and his view of conservatism.

Sir Roger recently died of cancer, and Pigweed and Crowhill have only just learned about the man. He was a barrister, musician, philosopher, wine critic, he spoke several languages, and he hunted foxes! Quite the man.

Scruton thought “the role of a conservative thinker is to assure people that their prejudices are true,” which sounds awful to modern ears, but it’s clearly right. We have to rely on our prejudices.

Conservatives believe in the wisdom of long-standing organizations that emerged organically. Laws and rules are discovered over time as we work our way through things. Hence the respect for tradition and precedent.

Life would be unlivable if we treated every situation from first principles rather than being guided by the wisdom of our ancestors.

Another Scruton principle is that a functioning, open society only works when people feel they have enough in common that the government will work for the benefit of everyone. This is in contrast, of course, to “diversity is our strength,” which is nonsense.

Sometimes the old ways are better

Have you tried buying a brake light recently?

It used to be so easy. There was a little book at the end of the aisle where you could look up which bulb to use for your car.

Now you have to stand in line and wait for someone with minimal computer skills to look it up in a complicated system, or try to find a usable website to answer your simple question. It’s very annoying. The book was way better.

Does society have an interest in encouraging little boys and girls to be proper men and women?

I say yes, that is one of the essential functions of a healthy society. I think Billy Porter disagrees with me.

Obviously there has to be room for the oddball, the nonconformist, and the unconventional. But I don’t see that as being in conflict with the more general rule that convention is useful, and people should be steered towards it.

Convention is what makes us feel comfortable in the world.

If you’re sitting in a theater, and everyone is facing the screen, except the guy in front of you, who has turned around in his seat and is staring at you, that makes you feel uncomfortable. Conventions are what makes for a polite and harmonious society.

One of those conventions is that men don’t wear dresses.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a man wearing a dress. Just as there’s nothing inherently wrong with someone turning around the wrong way in a theater. But respect for other people requires us to obey certain conventions, and efforts to brainwash children against that idea are more than misguided.

Porter said, “As a man, I really want to make a different kind of statement and show up in a way that could also be transformative, that could also be political.”

Fine. Be cutting edge at the Oscars. That’s where all that weird stuff is supposed to happen, because it’s basically a circus.

But when it comes to raising children, we want to teach them the conventions. If they want to be weird when they grow up, that’s their business. But they need to learn normal first.

When the media gets it wrong — on purpose

The boys review Family Drama, an imperial pilsner from Flying Dog.

While they enjoy the excellent beer, they review some examples where the media completely fell off the rails and got it horribly wrong.

The media follows an agenda first, story second methodology, and it has come out rather famously in several cases. If they can twist a story to fit their agenda, they’re as happy as clams.

  • Richard Jewel
  • The Covington Catholic kids
  • Juissie Smollett
  • Russia, Russia, Russia
  • The Duke Lacrosse team