This article is from the Conservatism FAQ, by Jim Kalb kalb@aya.yale.edu with numerous contributions by others.
Yes, to the extent they are consistent with the older and more
fundamental parts of our social arrangements, such as family,
community, and traditional moral standards, and contribute to the
over-all functioning of the whole. Unfortunately, the things
mentioned fail on both counts. Existing welfare and civil rights
measures make sense only as part of a comprehensive centrally managed
system that is adverse to the connections that make community
possible, and is designed perpetually to reorder society as a whole
through bureaucratic decree. It is impossible for conservatives to
accept anything like such a system.
 
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