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June
19, 2003, 9:10 a.m.
Two
Pulls
Questions
Iran raises.
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vents in Iran raise, for the manyeth time, a tension in fundamental conservative
attitudes towards freedom struggles around the world. As a conservative,
I feel two pulls.
One is Tory (often,
though not exclusively, English), which might be summed up as "bloody
natives." The classic 20th-century expressions were Evelyn Waugh's
African novels, Scoop
and the far meaner Black
Mischief. The Tory attitude colors many of the ethnic observations
in the 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (Circassians
are brave, but thievish — that kind of thing). The Tory believes
that the world is full of colorful and fascinating peoples who are, however,
mostly incapable of good government and self-rule.
Nowadays we dismiss
this view as racist, though it was earlier applied to the French Revolution
and, yes, to the American. See Dickens's American chapters in Martin
Chuzzlewit, especially the scene at the newspaper where a reporter,
Mr. Jefferson Brick, and the editor, Col. Somebody, are trading whiskey
shots and praising the free press and "nigger slavery." It is
Waugh avant la letter. Thus the Tories.
Simultaneously, and
as Americans, we believe "The God who gave us life gave us liberty
at the same time. The hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them"
(Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British North America).
This is what our Founders believe. If they were wrong, the country sucks.
Toryism can lead
to nihilism, and acquiescence in tyranny (the tyrant's plea, necessity).
Americanism can lead to childish enthusiasm, and painful surprises. My
friends at Claremont try to find a logical path through these dilemmas,
and their efforts are always instructive. I can never agree with them
100 percent because they always play Prudence as their right bower when
in logical difficulties (which is getting out of the difficulties by illogic).
I am deeply moved
by the Iranian students, as I was by Walesa, Havel, and the Chinese man
who played chicken with the tank after Tiananmen Square. My sympathies
were also engaged, however, for political reasons, the enemy of my enemy
being my friend. On other occasions, the Tory takes hold.
Much to think of.
But hey, we're not risking our lives.
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