The Tory Anarchist Comes to TAC
The Tory Anarchist got its start, in its present incarnation at least, about three years ago as an occasional outlet for my work outside of The American Conservative. That was before TAC had any blogs itself. Now that we have several, adding mine to the ensemble seems like a logical move.
What is the Tory Anarchist? Casual ruminations from me, Daniel McCarthy, senior editor of The American Conservative. The blog takes its name from a paradoxical epithet that’s been applied to writers like H.L. Mencken, Albert Jay Nock, and Auberon Waugh. The ideal is one of radical principles and Tory manners. I don’t claim to hit that mark myself, but I think it’s the one to aim for.
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a young Eric Blair, before he became George Orwell, also identified himself as a Tory Anarchist
I look forward to reading your new blot – Good luck!
stupid typo – I meant “blog” not “blot”
sorry
wm is right, it was Orwell who first used it,as far as I can see – but not to describe himself. He was talking about Swift. Still, not a bad couple of names to add to any intellectual lineage.
But I’m not sure Orwell meant it quite in the same way you did/do, in fact he meant almost the exact opposite – Tory principles and radical manners. Swift longed for an idyllic past that may or may not have existed in the past, but certainly didn’t exist in the present, but saw that any governmental changes to the present to make it like the past were likely to end in failure, because Swift had no faith in government at all, and ‘limited’ government was just as bad.
A Modest proposal has it both (or many) ways, the do-gooders proposing solutions for the plight of the Irish are laughable and patronising, the current ‘limited’ government approach is callous and immoral (because all ‘limited’ government is a lie, as Swift knew) and, finally the Irish are all hicks.
For Swift the past was the only place of happiness, but that is dead and will not recur. The only consolation we can take is the bitter one of humour.
Apparently, according to my wife, Orwell did use it to describe himself initially. But I have no idea where and neither does she. He applies it to Swift in ‘Politics vs Literature’. The key quote: “He is a Tory anarchist, despising authority while disbelieving in liberty, and preserving the aristocratic outlook while seeing clearly that the existing aristocracy is degenerate and contemptible.”
Its an exceptional essay:http://www.orwell.ru/library/reviews/swift/english/e_swift