William F. Buckley, Jr.

A conservative....a genuine conservative...has departed this life.

Americans [except for me and a few others, of course!] consistently misuse the term "conservative." Usually the term is applied [again, erroneously] to people like the George Bushs, Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan and the like. But these people are LIBERALS! Yes, liberals! They are "Classical Liberal" or "Nineteenth Century Liberals" in the vein of Adam Smith -- the veritable founder of the modern liberal movement. [Classical vs. 19TH Century versions depend on whether some notion of Social Darwinism is added to the mix.]

Americans [the same exceptions as above apply] consistely misuse the term "liberal" too -- by limiting it to one type of liberalism. They apply it to people like FDR, most of the Kennedys, Jimmy Carter, and of course, Obama and the "HillBilly" duo. But these people are UTILITARIANS [a.k.a. welfare liberals -- and "welfare" should not be have any negative connotations attached to it]! Utilitarians modified liberal thinking so as to focus attention on everyone and not only the self. [John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham, etc.]

All liberals reason exactly the same way: the right course of action is determined -- primarily -- by how much of a desired goal is likely to be achived. The " net balance of good over evil" is the major consideration. For Classical Liberals the basic "goal" is to maximize individual freedom. For Welfare Liberals the basic "goal" is to maximize the distribution of food-clothing-shelter [the welfare triad] and such other things as job and education opportunities, etc.

Needless to say, Welfare Liberals require more government than Classical/19Th Century Liberals.

Genuine Conservatives??

Good question...glad you asked!

Genuine Conservative reason in many different ways -- but ALL AGREE that a devotion to "doing good" is NOT the essence of moral/political reasoning. A devotion to doing what is RIGHT is rather the essence! How the "right" is determined is what distinguishes one GENUINE CONSERVATIVE from others.

Edmund Burke [the veritable founder of the modern Conservative movement] appealed to divinely created Natural Rights [like Justice Thomas, for example]. Others appeal to "Reason" or "God's Will" or "Nature" [Social Biology] or "History" [Marx -- that's right, folks, Marx was a GENUINE CONSERVATIVE].

OK...enough of this pedantic prattle....

But do keep in mind....we've lost a genuine thinker as well as a genuine conservative. He died at his desk...still thinking and writing.