Statism

What would we do without the so-called conservative “dogmatic aversion to statism”? For starters, we might actually start restraining the power of the central state and breaking up its collusion with concentrated wealth. In other words, we might start combating etatisme. Of course, that’s the point–in practice, most people who call themselves conservatives do not have a “dogmatic aversion to statism,” and when it comes to war and finance they are often defenders of an activist, centralized state. This actually makes a certain amount of sense, as most people who call themselves conservatives are, when you press them, essentially classical liberals, and classical liberals did not have a “dogmatic aversion to statism,” either. By comparison with their traditional conservative and monarchist foes in the 19th century, they were advocates for centralism and the expansion of the role of the state in the name of reason and liberty. Standardization, rationalization and uniformity in law and regulation were what most classical liberals prized, which is one reason why they tended to be strong nationalists hostile to the customs and privileges of regions and local parlements. The separation of modern strands of classical liberalism from nationalism (i.e., some forms of libertarianism) is a curious by-product of 20th century American politics, and I am guessing that this owes a great deal to influence of exiled liberals from central Europe on the evolution of these strands of American classical liberalism. These were exiles who were repelled by the nationalist politics of their home countries. In many European countries, it remains the case that nationalist parties are the direct descendants of classical liberal nationalists and the most classical liberal parties (outside Germany) tend to be inclined towards nationalism. As John says, “statist” is a somewhat useless designation, since at some point almost everyone accepts that there must be a government, and opposition to a centralized state as a matter of principle or “dogma” is a position held by relatively few people and many of them would not call themselves conservatives. Suffice it to say that when Will Wilkinson accepts the moniker “statist,” its value as a pejorative insult has been exhausted.