If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Have you ever wondered why the nation-state might be the most essential ingredient for a functioning democracy and a true sense of belonging?
- Did you know that the modern concept of human rights might actually be undermining the very social bonds that hold our communities together?
- What’s the secret to preserving the things we love in a world that seems increasingly hostile to tradition and heritage?
Listen to How to be a Conservative — Free Audiobook
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Key Takeaways from How to be a Conservative
- Discover how firsthand experiences with twentieth-century authoritarianism shaped a compelling argument for preserving individual freedom at all costs.
- Understand why a healthy, resilient society must be built organically from the bottom up, rather than imposed from above by rigid political ideologies.
- Learn how seemingly 'purposeless' everyday interactions like friendship and local community bonds form the true foundation of civil society.
- Find out how the conservative approach to social privilege creates real opportunity by opening up access to institutions, rather than shutting them down.
- Discover why championing individual responsibility and free enterprise is viewed as the ultimate defense against the overreach of the state.
How to be a Conservative — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Raised in a Labour-voting household, events of the twentieth century made Scruton a conservative.
Chapter 3: Conservatives hold that a society should grow from below, not be imposed from above.
Chapter 4: Opportunity comes by opening up possibilities, not shutting them down.
Chapter 5: The nation-state lies at the heart of a healthy society.
Chapter 6: Conservatives should back a free-market society, though with certain caveats.
Chapter 7: There’s a gap between rights guaranteed by classical liberalism and modern human rights notions.
Chapter 8: Multiculturalism in Western nations thrives when Western values are firmly defended.
How to be a Conservative Summary & Overview
How to be a Conservative (2014) presents the case for traditional conservatism in a world that seems inhospitable to its existence. In this short volume, English philosopher Sir Roger Scruton lays out the case for the nation-state, a free market, and a more sensible approach to multiculturalism and human rights.
Who Should Listen to How to be a Conservative?
- Those who walk on the right side of politics
- Anyone interested in political philosophy
- Leftists looking for an alternative perspective
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