On the Future of the Conservative Movement
Parting Thoughts from the Editor Emeritus
Ilan Wurman
Last Updated: 12/30/09 Section: Opinion
The Founders also believed in the necessity of a federal government that was energetic in the execution of its own enumerated powers. George Washington, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison all believed this. Thomas Jefferson, who famously declared that the best government is the one that governs least, advocated an extensive and elaborate system of public education, through which schools would identify and train the leaders of the nation's new natural aristocracy - determined not by birth but by ability.
So why did Thomas Jefferson, our patron saint of limited government, propose such a system? He believed that government did have a right to insist on a certain kind of education. He did not believe that parents should simply educate their children however they pleased. But, many conservatives today would ask, why shouldn't they? Because, Jefferson argued, to remain a republican nation, the people needed to cultivate and pass down republican habits. In ancient times, governments took upon themselves such objects as instilling moderation, civic-spiritedness, or military virtue in their citizens. To Jefferson it was altogether natural that a republican government, in order to remain republican, can and should educate a citizenry in civic-spiritedness and patriotism.
All of this is to say, put now more bluntly, that the Founders were not libertarians. They believed in a certain best way to live, and they created a government meant to maintain conditions conducive to that life. Such a government included numerous checks and balances, to ensure that the it did not destroy citizens' freedom to be self-sufficient and independent - habits essential for a self-governing people. But that government also included the powers to govern, at least within its appropriate scope and limitations.
I believe that these founding principles still apply today. I believe in a limited federal government that energetically executes its enumerated powers, and state governments that actively help create the conditions for a free society. But that's still, in a sense, a vague statement, so I would like to sharpen it within the context of the so-called debate between "reformist," or "moderate" Republicans, and the so-called "first-principles conservatives."
So why did Thomas Jefferson, our patron saint of limited government, propose such a system? He believed that government did have a right to insist on a certain kind of education. He did not believe that parents should simply educate their children however they pleased. But, many conservatives today would ask, why shouldn't they? Because, Jefferson argued, to remain a republican nation, the people needed to cultivate and pass down republican habits. In ancient times, governments took upon themselves such objects as instilling moderation, civic-spiritedness, or military virtue in their citizens. To Jefferson it was altogether natural that a republican government, in order to remain republican, can and should educate a citizenry in civic-spiritedness and patriotism.
All of this is to say, put now more bluntly, that the Founders were not libertarians. They believed in a certain best way to live, and they created a government meant to maintain conditions conducive to that life. Such a government included numerous checks and balances, to ensure that the it did not destroy citizens' freedom to be self-sufficient and independent - habits essential for a self-governing people. But that government also included the powers to govern, at least within its appropriate scope and limitations.
I believe that these founding principles still apply today. I believe in a limited federal government that energetically executes its enumerated powers, and state governments that actively help create the conditions for a free society. But that's still, in a sense, a vague statement, so I would like to sharpen it within the context of the so-called debate between "reformist," or "moderate" Republicans, and the so-called "first-principles conservatives."
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