G. K. Chesterton on conservatives and progressives:
The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes being corrected. Even when the revolutionist might himself repent of his revolution, the traditionalist is already defending it as part of his tradition. Thus we have the two great types—the advanced person who rushes us into ruin, and the retrospective person who admires the ruins. He admires them especially by moonlight, not to say moonshine. Each new blunder of the progressive or prig becomes instantly a legend of immemorial antiquity for the snob. This is called the balance, or mutual check, in our Constitution.
This passage is taken from an article entitled The Blunders of Our Parties that was published on April 19, 1924 in the now-defunct The Illustrated London News.
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Source:
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton, Volume XXXIII: The Illustrated London News 1923-1925, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1990.
Tags: Apoliteia, Conservatism, Conservatives, G. K. Chesterton, Nihil novi sub sole, Political Polarization, Progressives, Progressivism, Zeitgeist
