Is There Still a Place for Conservatism? | Yoram Hazony

In this clip, John and Yoram Hazony discuss whether conservatism is anachronistic in our times, given the dilapidated state of modern Western institutions. Hazony, although this is the right question to be asking, provides us with two reasons why conservatism is a viable option in the 21st century. These reasons answer the question from both a political perspective and how we are to act in our personal lives.

Philosopher, scholar and political theorist Dr. Yoram Hazony joins John for a rich and interweaving conversation about conservatism, nationalism, democracy and modern politics. Dr. Hazony, who has recently completed books on several of these topics, provides a compelling critique of the political right - where has gone wrong, the great benefits it can convey for society and how it diverges from liberalism.

John and Yoram touch on many important topic areas, including multiculturalism, identity politics, globalism and why nationalism seems to be surrounded by an unearned air of controversy.

Yoram Hazony is an Israeli philosopher, Bible scholar and political theorist. He is President of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem and Chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation. He has written several books, including The Virtue of Nationalism (2018) and his latest, Conservatism: A Rediscovery (2022), which have both met popular and critical success.

Educated at Princeton University (B.A. in East Asian Studies), and Rutgers University (Ph.D in Political Theory), Yoram founded and was the first editor of Princeton’s conservative student journal, The Princeton Tory, while still an undergraduate. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife Yael Hazony. They have nine children.
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Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues.

John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate."

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[betrayedcitizen]

“There’s nothing left to conserve”
Exactly my thoughts over the last 5 years.
Some Local, state, Federal Government policies now actually need to be wound back and of course a complete cultural shift back 15 years.

[MarkHansen]

Absolutely wonderful advice and guidance Yoram. Thank you.

[ThebitFighter]

That is one of Hazony's most powerful and moving speeches. And totally off the cuff, uninterrupted, from the first step to the end. It's because this man truly lives a traditional life, and can speak entirely from the heart. He's the only one these days saying these things.

[erpollock]

He is brilliant. Clear, understandable. How people should live.

[johnstirling]

I think a part of the problem is the difference between what are perceived as "conservative " values and what is practised as conservative action. This is particularly noticeable in the US where lots of folks will tell you what they are against but few of them will put forward an achievable policy platform, outside of slagging off the "other" sides ideas. Politics is the art of the possible and very few, (on both sides) are willing to compromise for fear of being seen as weak, to the detriment of all.

[tc]

Funny how so much has been destroyed over the past ten years in Australia, while we had a conversative government.

[franksullivan]

What is a concern of mine is we as a worldwide community no longer focus on our children in the need for them to face hard things.This coddling in the West is making our societies soft....all over.The idea that Government is your best parent figure is becoming such an absurd reality that real parents are being marginalized to just being birthers.Our communities suffer from the lack of seeking excellence from a lack of enforced discipline.Only good parents can provide this.A good parent is not a child’s friend, they must be their this done well, you will have a good friend later on in the results of making hard choices.

[kaylenehousego]

Good that you mention the term " functioning" when referring to a group or a church who have as a teach . .

[PennySmart]

Very interesting. Re Durkheim findings, Evangelical Protestants also have a hierarchical structure and a congregation.

[quietspark]

Short answer: unfortunately no, but because authentic conservatism has long been dead and buried.
Long answer: As somewhat of an American Civil War buff I can say with a degree of certainty that authentic Constitutional conservatism was violently put down in the 1860s and subverted from that point forward. When I say "authentic conservatism" I'm talking about the chivalrous, honor/duty bound and highly spiritual version typically demonstrated by Southern Democrats up to 1860 and through the War between the states; at the time this was someone who never compromised his principles, who never backed down from a challenge but was also humble enough to know and accept when he is beaten, refusing to fight to the last man because the cost paid would be far to high.
What is considered "conservatism" today is only "conservative" in that it is a moderate/slight left liberalism that is attempting to "conserve" post Civil War big industry liberalism. People often forget that at the time of it's founding the Republican party was actually the "progressive" party in that it actually was the party of inevitable industrial progress and big business, both of which ran counter to the then highly conservative Southern Democrats who just wanted their society left alone to develop naturally(the belief was that slavery would wither naturally as it had done in the North thanks to the industrial revolution).
The whole reason the far left has made so much progress is because there is no countervailing argument to temper far left liberalism's ruthless pursuit of progress at the cost of civilizational stability; the Modern Republican party cannot offer this stability because it itself has no real foundation beyond 'progress=good', the progress goes in the exact same direction but slower in the GoP's case. The modern Republican party is pretty much irrelevant at this point anyway, it offers slight resistance that it can make assured political gains from, but beyond that it will continue to do nothing because it has no way to argue against what is happening to society without leaning into an authentic and highly spiritual conservatism which would scare most moderates off thus making the GoP completely unelectable.

edit: I would consider myself a Constitutional Conservative, i.e. authentic, which is why I have chosen not to participate in what is clearly a single party composed of two warring factions.

[deathbysalt]

A wise advice from a wise man.
Thank you
תודה יורם! 😊

[ChrisPhillipsDrumLessons]

First step to health .. stop eating processed foods
Second, run everyday
Third get rid of fb, insta, twitter, TikTok

[robertholland]

Religion is anything but being about conservatism. Religion is as radical as one could be!
But we need the right mix of conservatism and progressivism, or we would still be in the Stone Age.

[davidvalenta]

is this about economic conservatism, or ecological, or societal/moral ideals?....
it seems that conservatism, for a long-haul picture, will require capitalism to be constrained, big money to have a reduced voice in politics, and remove the corrosion-causing corruption of both parties in the USA.
Will traditional morals prevail? yes, ultimately, and perhaps painfully for some who are consumed by ideologies that aren't sustainable or are physically, mentally and spiritually destructive.
Power structure has to be returned to the 'moral middle', who is by numbers really still a majority, to be represented.
IMO: clear cut plans, fully outlined. for reform and infrastructure restoration & growth as well as apart from partisan bias, should be agreeable and an ideal movement to disrupt the current system(s).
Once the success of common sense reforms, growth, and budget balances are shown, the traditional and conservative benefits, honestly lived out, could set a new trajectory.

[CallmeKenneth-tbzb]

Conservative democracy will not work any better than Liberal democracy. because the issue is and has long been the lack of balance. Just as the balance skewing towards Liberal democracy has lead to culture running out of control, Conservative Democracy would lead to stagnation. Yes we need to preserve and protect but we also need to create new things and that is only achievable when you have a properly balanced political system.

[secretgoldfish]

At the rate they're going there won't be much to conserve outside of the 'new' (and creepy) supposed reality.

[kaylenehousego]

" A liberal life ?" Language is vital and as "a liberal life, " implies a positive I suggest we ditch it or we are complying with the left .

[TreeGod.]

The pendulum is swinging
It took us years to get here, it will take time to get out

[PennySmart]

The trouble with this sympathetic approach to faith is that it ignores truth: either Jesus/Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah or He is not, and either He saves/brings people to God by grace through faith alone or we can be saved through our works, either our faith is based only on the Bible or it is based on church/human traditions and countless idolatrous additions.

[daysofnoah]

Is there still a place for Jesus? That's the real question.