Conservatives can make a difference
This week’s Senate confirmation hearings moved Amy Coney Barrett one step closer to being the next justice on the U. S. Supreme Court. Her appointment, which would give conservatives a 6- 3 majority on the top court, would be a major institutional victory for the American conservative moment. It represents the culmination of a decades- long effort to cultivate a network of conservative jurists and get them on the bench.
Although progress in the judicial realm is the most significant and timely example of conservative institution building, it need not be an isolated case. It should be seen as part of a broader yet incomplete agenda since the mid1950s to penetrate the walls of elite institutions — including universities, media and big business — and tilt them in a centre- right direction. Bill Buckley, who’s been described as the “St. Paul of the conservative movement,” was a firm believer that the future of conservatism ultimately depended on shaping mainstream society rather than withdrawing from it.
Judge Barrett’s nomination is a powerful validation of his vision. The story of modern conservative jurisprudence in the U. S. started modestly in the early 1980s as a small, fringe position in academic and legal circles and has since blossomed into a significant intellectual movement with scholars, students and jurists spread across prominent law schools and the judicial branch.
Its success is a much-needed rejoinder to the conservative inclination to retreat from mainstream institutions that are perceived as inhospitable to their beliefs and values. Conservatives can in fact compete for influence and power in the commanding heights of our culture and economy without having to sacrifice who they are or what they believe. It may be slow and difficult and there will invariably be setbacks along the way.
But this week’s confirmation hearings are a reminder that it can ultimately be done.
It comes at a critical juncture for the conservative movement. There’s a growing sense of resignation among many conservatives that there’s no room for their ideas and perspectives in large swaths of modern society. Universities are a common example. Research shows that most professors tilt much further to the left than the general Canadian population. But it’s even deeper than that.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson has come to argue that big business and the rise of so- called “woke capitalism” is actually the biggest threat to conservative lifestyle preferences in the modern age. Big-tech firms such as Google and Twitter, who are so dominant in the digital world, are commonly singled out for their hostility to conservative viewpoints. This week’s episode of Facebook and Twitter blocking a news story about Joe Biden’s son’s alleged influence peddling plays into these sentiments.
The net effect is to cause some conservatives to increasingly think that the only option is to withdraw from modern institutions and society in order to fully live out their values. It’s no accident, for instance, that conservative writer Rod Dreher’s 2017 book, The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post- Christian Nation, which essentially encourages conservatives — particularly religious ones — to retreat into monastic- like communities, was a popular bestseller. One gets the sense that the book’s message would resonate with its target audience even more today.
To make matters worse, these broader social trends are occurring against a backdrop of media fragmentation that’s reinforcing an inward turn. Digital media creates powerful incentives for a right- wing echo chamber that’s primarily more about galvanizing a small yet passionate audience of true believers than trying to persuade new people to cause. This model may produce clicks and generate revenues but it’s the antithesis of Buckley’s vision of a conservatism that’s confident and engaged in the broader society.
But conservatives shouldn’t despair. Judge Barrett’s life and career set out a better path forward. This is someone who’s lived and excelled in the left- wing milieu of elite institutions without compromising her values and beliefs. She’s chosen to be part of this world and is now shaping it with her intellect, humility and grace.
There are, of course, other examples of constructive conservative engagement in mainstream society. But there are still too few. A big part of the responsibility lies with progressive gatekeepers of elite institutions who’ve too often created one-sided cultures of conformity. Conservatives have culpability here though as well. There’s something unconservative about abandoning key institutions just because we don’t like their current ideas and culture. It’s also, as we’ve regrettably seen, an ultimately self-defeating strategy.
The upshot is this: conservatives shouldn’t succumb to resignation about our ability to influence, shape, and ultimately lead mainstream institutions. Instead, we ought to recommit ourselves to the Buckleyian goal of changing hearts and minds and ultimately the world around us. That’s still the right path for conservatism.