Among his many exhortations to conservatives is Russell Kirk’s insistence that they be guided by the principle of prudence. Prudence, properly understood, requires the ability to be self-critical — to avoid an unmoving fealty to outmoded dogmas, to re-examine assumptions, and, most of all, to have the courage and foresight to correct course if and when things have gone wayward.
Leading lights on the Right gathered last week under the banner of “national conservatism” to apply some prudent self-examination to the now well-trodden path of the traditional conservative consensus. It was a necessary effort, and one that may prove to be transformational.
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