2.1 Society has always changed, for the better in some ways and for the worse in others. Tradition itself is an accumulation of changes. So why not accept change, especially if everything is so complicated and hard to figure out?
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This article is from the Conservatism FAQ, by Jim Kalb kalb@aya.yale.edu with numerous contributions by others.
2.1 Society has always changed, for the better in some ways and for the worse in others. Tradition itself is an accumulation of changes. So why not accept change, especially if everything is so complicated and hard to figure out?
Changes have always involved resistance as well as acceptance. Those
that have to make their way over opposition will presumably be better
than those that are accepted without serious questioning. Tradition
is reliable because it reflects the overall weight of experience and
reflection. That means that traditions that have long endured, and so
presumptively reflect extended experience, should change only in
response to something equally weighty.
In addition, conservatism is less rejection of change as such than of
intentional change of a peculiarly sweeping sort demanded by
Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment philosophies like liberalism and
Marxism. It is recognition that the world is not our creation, and
there are permanent things we must simply accept. For example, the
family as an institution has changed from time to time in conjunction
with other social changes. However, the current left/liberal demand
that all definite institutional structure for the family be abolished
as an infringement of individual autonomy (typically phrased as a
demand for the elimination of sex roles and heterosexism and the
protection of children's rights) is different in kind from anything
in the past, and conservatives believe it must be fought.
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