Wednesday, November 21, 2012

"Red Tories" the "One Nation" Canadian Conservative Tradition

John, thank you for the superb definition of "One Nation" Conservatives. This describes your humble servant here perfectly. A year or two ago, you and I spoke briefly about the "red Tory" - fair play for all - tradition in British, and Canadian, politics. I learned about it when I lived and studied in Ontario, Canada for eight years. You caught me by surprise when in our short visit you also knew about it too! Otto von Bismarck would be a "One Nation" Conservative too. Classic conservative thought as you know views society as organic, similar to the human body, in which all the its parts must be healthy for the body to be healthy. What in fact masquerades as Conservative thought here too often, far too often, in fact, is classic 18-19th-century Liberalism, in which the Individual can divorce from society and not care about the health of the whole. This is the rationale, if you need one, for the destructive greed at work in our American  "body politic" sadly for too many years now. In short, the Canadian or British "Red Tory" or the "One Nation" Conservative believes in fairness for all - without having to sacrifice the traditional values and heritage that have stood the tests of time. Thank you for helping your humble servant here to see more clearly the sad impasse which we have reached in our country. Keep up your good work. Paul

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