Abraham Lincoln defined conservatism as a preference for the old and tried over the new and untried. And as a general maxim, it’s hard to find one better suited to the conservative temperament. Of course, it’s somewhat ironic that the expositor of this maxim went on to enact one of the greatest, most sweeping changes in policy in American history. The evil of slavery, of course, justified throwing out the old and tried. But it is the perpetual mischief of the progressive to insist that every ill justifies societal overthrow. We conservatives ought to be resistant to the general proposition of rapid wholesale change.
Incrementalism for its Own Sake
Incrementalism for its Own Sake
Incrementalism for its Own Sake
Abraham Lincoln defined conservatism as a preference for the old and tried over the new and untried. And as a general maxim, it’s hard to find one better suited to the conservative temperament. Of course, it’s somewhat ironic that the expositor of this maxim went on to enact one of the greatest, most sweeping changes in policy in American history. The evil of slavery, of course, justified throwing out the old and tried. But it is the perpetual mischief of the progressive to insist that every ill justifies societal overthrow. We conservatives ought to be resistant to the general proposition of rapid wholesale change.