He is critical of economic liberalism, and sympathetic to the traditional British left, for its belief in the dignity of work. In his overview of recent political culture, Stanley emerges as a One Nation Conservative, or perhaps a new, more radical version of that political type. Because identity politics always has to speak for alleged victims, it “is as unwilling to concede victory as other movements are to concede defeat.” (He is still only 39.) Along the way, he offers many predictable attacks on woke culture and identity politics. On a personal note, he admits to having been a young fogey who found his fellow-teenagers less interesting than older people with their superior historical knowledge.
How these mini-essays support his overall thesis is not always clear, but they are often interesting. He then offers some colourful digressions on various traditions, including the emergence of modern Japan, circumcision, monarchy, socialism in America. “Liberalism is a tradition, but it is also a tradition that is anti-tradition – so it undermines itself.” As a result, “our society doesn’t have some of the coherence and certainties that other cultures enjoy.” It is hard to define, because it permeates so much of modern thought, but “running through the history of liberalism we find a disposition towards freedom, equality, the individual, the scientific method and that constant emphasis upon growth through reason.” In the mid-20th century, because of totalitarian opposition, liberalism seemed coherent, and was allied with conservatism, but in recent decades it has had freer rein to corrupt culture and politics, and populism has been a necessary reaction. Then we learn more about the subtle, elusive enemy. And they must be defended from the main force of modern thought: “The primary villain in my story is liberalism, the political inheritance of the Enlightenment, which has created a state of permanent rebellion against the past.”Īn initial chapter in praise of tradition dwells on the persecuted Yazidi people, which leads him to distinguish between healthy tradition and the plague of fundamentalism, as typified by Islamic State. Traditions “adapt and evolve”: they “develop”, he explains, with reference to St John Henry Newman. But tradition is not just there: it must be nurtured, thought about, pruned back and repaired. Tradition is the life-blood of human culture, Stanley argues, and we must challenge the modern disdain for it. Now the British Catholic historian and journalist Tim Stanley attempts to do the same, although his focus is usually on cultural politics rather than religion itself. The American Catholic journalist Sohrab Ahmari has recently brought such thinking to a wider audience. In recent years, the “post-liberal” perspective has dominated religious thought and has also gained a foothold in political circles.
Whatever Happened to Tradition?: History, Belonging and the Future of the West
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