Forget politics for a minute; I know it’s hard, but bear with me. If conservatism is a moral and social disposition of gratitude and appreciation for an inheritance of permanent creations, then we have a strong obligation to make beautiful things that naturally draw out the devotion and protection of our children.
One of the most important insights of the recently deceased Roger Scruton was that this obligation to create beauty applies as much to our buildings and city streets as to painting or literature. Scruton came to this realization out of his deep conviction that the task of conservatism is to make ourselves at home. In much of our activity we are “home-building,” erecting — in the face of change, neglect, and decay — the permanent symbols of a settled form of life.
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