a challenge to the conservative worldview

[pbrower2a]

(10-15-2022, 10:18 PM)JasonBlack Wrote: "Are we just the product of our selfish animalist genes? Or can we learn to do better, like liberals like me say?"
Well, right off the bad, your question is loaded .   "Learning to do better" is the goal of any human with some level of basic principles, and that certainly includes conservatives. If anything, it's conservatives who are more likely to engage in "self-directed warfare" rather than focusing more on societal ideals. 

What conservatives are really most concerned with is the natural human tendency toward self-destructive impulses, on instincts that push people to short term gratification rather than long term prosperity.

We need recall that many who now call themselves "conservatives" in truth euphemize their fascism -- their irrationalism, anger, bigotry, sadism, recklessness, superstition,  snobbishness, exaggerated nationalism, and tolerance of authoritarianism or totalitarianism. Holy cow! All of that is pathology... then again, fascism is the purest expression of political pathology. Fascism always degrades even if it does not destroy, so I would expect you to reject it.   I'm not so sure about Classic X'er, though. 

Immediate gratification usually comes at an excessive cost in behaviors that bankrupt, sicken, disgrace, and stupefy those who live exclusively for them. The sugar-and-starch highs lead to tooth decay and diabetes. Reckless sex brings about STD's and unwelcome pregnancies. Gambling and impulse shopping easily ruin one. Speeding and other bad driving, like other cheap thrills can cripple one. The grim satisfaction from beating up someone that one dislikes from either a personal grudge or some form of bigotry can get one hurt and can get one a prison term. In view of my record I need say little of drugs or alcohol. All of these delights are both expensive and evanescent. 

Eschewing such delights to get something more satisfying is maturity. Everything has an opportunity cost, so giving up a few doughnuts might allow one to enjoy a lobster dinner. It takes few self-denials of trips to a casino to blow a couple hundred dollars to afford a motorcoach tour of Italy or a Baltic cruise. Bruckner's symphonies take more time to appreciate than the usual top-40 hit, but they offer more profound experiences.  Thrift of course allows one nicer stuff, except in inflationary times. Deferred gratification is a learned taste.    

Deferral is not denial. Denial of gratification means that one chooses to do without altogether -- or more likely has that way imposed upon one by those who exploit one severely. To make sacrifices on behalf of one's progeny is one thing. To submit to severe exploitation on behalf of economic and administrative responsible only to themselves is another.  Toiling without end for the indulgence of exploiters  so that one can get Pie in the Sky When You Die is something that one accepts if the alternative is to be whipped, starved, or executed. 

One of the strongest temptations in human history is to live far better than others through exploitation of others, and that the worst manifestation of such is sundry forms of slavery. Need I say more of that?

Conservatives have the obligation to find something worthy of protection. A noble and rich culture? Rule of law? Opportunity for all? Sustainable economics? Rational thought and the potential for creativity and innovation?    

Sustainable and repeatable happiness, accor4ding to Aristotle and others after him, is the test of the validity of a life. We all rightly live at the least to dodge pain, guilt, disgrace, and deprivation.