The Next Conservatism

Where should Conservatism go in the Twenty First century?
Free Congress Foundation has a series of essays (50 of them!) to ask and answer that question. I haven't read them all, but what I have read is thought provoking.

In the really big scheme of things, we see that the Twentieth Century central global ideological battle was about the state, the economy, and man's relation to both. Communism and fascism, i.e., collectivist economics, were fashioned as the 'solution' to the 'problems' that capitalism wrought. We faced internal political struggles and global wars facing the challenge of these systems. Yet it turned out in the end that what capitalism brings us is freedom and prosperity; collectivism was the problem and freedom the solution, not the other way around. Perhaps the turning point was when Reagan declared as much
in his 1981 inaugural:

government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?

Reagan brought to American conservatism three key components: traditional 'family' values; free enterprise economics - low tax rates and less Government intervention and regulation; and a strong military.

Today the long war against collectivism seems to be won, yet Communist-led China is on the rise, and Government spending is higher than ever. On the cultural front, our very prosperity and freedom is fostering cultural change. And our country, powerful that it is, is having its sovereignty challenged by forces that seek further internationalist dictation on American actions.

These and other new challenges in the 21st century that conservatism will need to address do not require changing principles, but do require adapting priorities and applying principles to the new realities.