David French Is Wrong: Ron DeSantis Won’t Destroy Conservatism

Political philosophies do not exist in the abstract. They are derived from the study of the world of men, which is full of the accreted baggage of culture, the accidents of history, and the shifting sands of technology. They grow and develop in the course of human events. We conservatives take the world as it is and do not deal in the realm of Platonic ideal forms.

For classically liberal American conservatives, there are timeless truths at the heart of our philosophy: as Calvin Coolidge famously argued, “If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions.” But the application of those propositions cannot be separated from the governed themselves, who remain a moving target. American conservatism cannot be separated from America, or from American conservatives.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Political philosophies do not exist in the abstract. They are derived from the study of the world of men, which is full of the accreted baggage of culture, the accidents of history, and the shifting sands of technology. They grow and develop in the course of human events. We conservatives take the world as it is and do not deal in the realm of Platonic ideal forms.

For classically liberal American conservatives, there are timeless truths at the heart of our philosophy: as Calvin Coolidge famously argued, “If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions.” But the application of those propositions cannot be separated from the governed themselves, who remain a moving target. American conservatism cannot be separated from America, or from American conservatives.