Jeremy Boreing

The purpose of conservatism is to carry forward the best wisdom and the best values of the past.

The hard-earned wisdom and the hard-earned values of the people who went before us

fought with reality, just like we fight with reality, but built something substantial, carry the best parts of that forward into a future that will look different than the past, that will still require building new things and innovating and change.

One of the things that concerns me the most actually in not just the conservative movement, but in the country right now, is our absolute resistance to any sort of change.

And in a way, it's because so much has changed so fast.

We're shell-shocked.

We feel that we've lost so much.

But we run a real risk of becoming sort of like Europe.

The story of Europe in the second half of the 20th century is the story of one of the most productive, innovative Christian places on earth deciding that it didn't actually want the future.

And so it passed a bunch of protectionist policies.

It essentially set out the entire early internet and early technological race that's defined most of our lifetime.

Now, the upside is that left a lot of opportunity for America to become even more successful and even more hegemonic on the global stage.

But Europe is so far behind us in terms of GDP, in terms of

innovation, opportunity for young people.

You know, the smartest young people in Europe come to America.

I worry that we're at risk of becoming the very same thing if we think incorrectly about what conserving means.

Conserving doesn't mean not moving forward.

Conserving means moving forward with the best ideas and the best values and the best wisdom of the past as our foundation.

We already do.

You know, conservatism, the conservative movement pumps out precious few artists.