(I’ve been mulling the following essay for a while now–was finally inspired to action by a post from Cassandra, asking readers to “define conservatism for me.”)
Two stories….
During the Cold War, an American officer was watching a British artillery battery doing some practice firing. He noticed that every time the battery fired, two soldiers were detailed to stand about 50 feet away, each man with his right arm up in the air.
“What are they doing?” asked the American.
“Standard orders, sir,” responded a sergeant. “What we were taught.”
Unable to imagine any reason for this procedure, the American began to make inquiries. Everyone he talks to simply responded that this was they way they had been taught to do things. Finally, he interviewed a very old soldier, who had served in World War One and was now in a veterans hospital.
“You know, when the battery fires?” asked the American. “Those two guys off to the side with their arms in the air? What are they doing?”
“They’re holding the horses,” gasped the old soldier.
This is how liberals tend to think about conservatives–doing things they way they’ve always been done, for no good reason other than precedent.
A different story…