From Sweden: Abortion jewelry for the post-abortive parent.
Art, design and politics meet in Joanna Rytel’s jewellery collection “Happy abortion-children”. Her earrings, brooches, necklaces and rings formed as aborted foetuses, takes a stand for abortion. The idea can be said to be a continuation of her project “Abortkyrkogard.se” on the internet. There many have told of the guilt they have felt after having an abortion. “I wondered about why this was and I believe that it is society that induces the guilt, particularly for girls. I want to do something about it.”….

Despite that it is a little sad to have an abortion. But one does it for the child’s sake. It would not have been good to have a child half-heartedly. They have it much better in heaven than if they hade been born. I thought that it would be good to make jewellery, because then people can carry their happy abortion-children with them.

I wonder if Swedish Jews had it much better in heaven?

This past weekend I spent in Austin, and something of which I had burried in the back of my mind during the summer came roaring back into my conscience: the Republican “permanent majority” may be much shallower than believed, because the coalition of the Right is shattering thanks to the aggresive foreign policy of the Bush administration.

I stumbled across this article in the American Conservative which reminded me of the arguments I heard struck up innumerous times at the conference I was at this weekend. With the spectre of communism gone there is nothing left to hold the libertarians (and principled small government conservatives like myself) in with the Republican Party.

This threat is real and should not be ignored by the party elite. As Alex pointed out, just consider how many neo-cons there are in heartland USA versus how many small government conservatives there are. The neo-con movement is largely an intellectual one with little if any grassroots might, whereas there is might and anger simmering in the traditional paleo-con, libertarian, Burke conservatives. It seems that the Bush administration used an effort of getting the Religious Right (not to be confused with traditionalist conservatives) and the Neo-Cons to become their alliance of power within the GOP. Sadly, it is this that risks to rip assunder the GOP equation.

There is no doubt that the war on terror needs to be fought, but this senseless talk of more invasions, continued ignorance of potential problems within the Patriot Act, and continued affronts to good governmental principle and there could erupt a major split within the GOP. Now if Bush comes through with severe budget cuts, Social Security reform (without the tax hikes) and ceases talking about invading every other country in the Middle East, then the GOP probably has bright days ahead…

Now from time to time you have heard bandied about on the site, the whole neo-con, paleo-con, traditionalist, libertarian debate. Well I am here to lay out just a bit of my political ideology which I would describe as Edmund Burke traditionalist conservatism, quite a mouthful..

“How do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word… tradition”
-Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof

The superb Broadway play, is liberal in its overall orientation but its coverage of the issue of tradition is a little window into an issue that often gets little attention in today’s political debate, only in religious circles does it ever get any coverage (tradition, liturgy, scriptural interpretation, etc). Yet, most of the founding fathers of modern conservatism considered it to be at the heart of what conservative thought stood for.

“Tradition, tradition, without our tradition our life would be as shaky as… as… a fiddler on the roof”
-Tevye

The basic thought is that man can only achieve true progress by standing on the shoulders of his ancestors, and that change needs to take into account the preservation of society and order and the strong heritage of our fore fathers. Change should be slow, measured, and deliberate. Change for changes sake is dangerous, and often causes more damage than good.

The political classes even on the right have long lost view the long view of tradition that Russel Kirk, Edmund Burke, and others viewed as the key to conservatism. Because in the end, politics is not the end nor is it a very effective mean to an ends, rather it is often an ugly necessity.

This is what makes true traditionalist conservatives so queasy about the proposition we can go and enforce democracy among the masses. First, we are wary that democracy really works to begin with, especially without generations of democratic tradition. Moreover, it is a radical and quick change, which again always makes us very concerned, but maybe most importantly the main proponents of the new Bush nation building policy view it as a way to achieve a kind of democratic realism utopia. This democratic utopianism is streaked with the same idealism that in rejecting the fallen nature of man has led to so much pain. Now, I hope I am proven wrong, but I fear I will not be.

Conservatives would often do more good becoming writers, artists, and other professions and having big families and living by conservative principles. In the end, ten children growing up understanding proper conservatism may do more good then a senate seat for six years… something to think about.