Roger Scruton: On Being Conservative

[@Doubledig]

Sir Roger Scruton FBA, FRSL 27th February 1944 - 12th January 2020.

[@nicholasfraser6332]

Labour "genius" Andrew Gwynne: "Nobody holding [Scruton’s] views has a place in modern democracy." If this is the case, then I think I am done with "modern democracy". What a true "world treasure" Sir Roger is! As long as voices like his have not yet been completely silenced, there is hope in the world. "Die Botschaft hör ich wohl....." allein mir fehlt der Glaube, dass das Zitat von Schiller stammt. Goethens "Faust", lieber Heinrich, nicht Schiller.

[@LuizHenrique-qx5et]

Roger's point that we should look to the good things of our culture and build upon them is a very interesting one. If you focus on the bad things, as the left most frequently does, nothing except destruction and decadence can supervene. The signs of that decadence are blatant. Look everywhere and you'll find that what wasn't utterly destroyed by the World Wars has been in constant decay ever since. One cannot expect to see another Churchill or De Gaulle; or another great intellectual; or another great writer. Likewise, one cannot expect a revival in communities, in the industrious, neighborly way of life that, as Durkheim notes, is what made the West what it is. That which is valuable in the West - its cultural and intellectual heritage and its way of life - is almost to the point of sterility. One could not expect any different when every appreciation of this culture is akin to a crime, and its berating is seen as a virtue.

[@oldmoviemusic]

Absolutely excellent comment. You could not have been more succinct nor more profound.

[@mosaicclassics]

Building upon the good is the essence of conservatism. Most understand the concept to go back to Edmund Burke, but there have probably been others to express the idea in so many words.

[@kylekatarn5964]

Excellent comment.

[@leos3123]

On a personal level, one cannot dislike this noble, distinguished, well spoken and intellectual man. Therefore conservative views, when broadcasted to a larger audience, must succeed and persist in the long run, if a certain degree of education and intellect is guaranteed.

[@lucyalmiranez5367]

Thank you for this important video and an important input of Sir Roger, also great discussions.

[@TheVickikelly]

I am reading Roger Scrutons excellent book “ How to be a Conservative “, I recommend you read this yourself and hope it is translated into German

[@LeonElQueAmas]

It is! :)

[@lesilluminations1]

He is indeed a brilliant man.

[@perryspassage9474]

What a fine man Sir Roger Scruton is.

[@nicholasfraser6332]

Another of our guiding lights has gone out... On January 12th, the world became a much darker place, with a huge Sir Roger Scruton-shaped hole in it. May you find peace "im weiten Reich der Weltennacht", dear Sir Roger.

[@quantummath]

Thank you very much for the talk. Greetings from Hamburg From an Iranian expat.

[@lufteze2916]

Just found him ... And its sad he just passed . RIP

[@OriginalLHB]

I think Sir Roger here is beginning to articulate a more organic "identity politics" than is articulated by proponents of left wing, rational constructivist identity politics. The way forward is to begin by proudly proclaiming our national identities in a way that conserves the best of our cultural patrimony while recognizing that there are some things that must be discarded. German culture is a great test case insofar as it embodies some of the very best of the western tradition - the land of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Goethe, Nietzsche and Kant - as well as having given rise to some of the worst.

[@realistadelnuevoextremo]

Yeah my boy was a nationalist

[@ceecee6679]

Lovely man, rip Sir Roger

[@paulleader7000]

western culture is being slowly dissolved.we need to save our history and traditions... i just hope the old traditions are being kept alive by the common people around the world, biding their time until they can establish their culture again. equality means having to deal with the same shit as everyone else has to deal with.

[@anonymous-cq7wj]

Roger Scruton knows German? At some points he started to answer questions in German before they were translated

[@henrychinaski8686]

From his answers I would say he clearly does because he references things in the question without it being in the translation.

[@vkorchnoifan]

The young do not have an identity. What happens when the politicians develop a different ideal that could alienate the local communities. Multiculturalism and diversity are such ideals that can and do make identities difficult to understand. National identity, tribal identity, and even sexual identity can and do make a community have more collective understanding and more solid feeling towards each other. Multiculturalism and diversity destroy all of that. It will make those communities even more alienated. People who don't speak the same language, don't worship in the same way, don't practice sex the same way, and have a different views of civil society put pressure on those who know their local areas and ways. And when both communities have an effect on the politics and when one wins out over the other what will happen ? Two things- outright tyranny or anarchy will ensue.

[@simonheaney8721]

vkorchnoifan Well said . Accurate, so prevalent in the west. My country/community pales fro what it once was. Trump was a positive remedy to a what we have become today.

[@LukeGeoDude]

at 53:00 the bilingual format is dropped, thank god.

[@whatwhat678]

Ann Coulter is one of the most rational voices on the right.

[@agneschamot7284]

Viel Dank! Hervorragend. Ein Verlust, dass Sir Scruton uns bereits verlassen hat. Tipp: Ein Simultanübersetzer wäre dem Niveau angemessener gewesen.

[@the-quintessenz]

Er müsste theoretisch auch deutsch können.

[@danielkarlsson156]

The only weak point in Mr Scruton argument is that he underestimate the genetic and kinship factor. It is well known today that we even choose friends based on genetic factors, that humans seems to sense genetic differences in some way and that genetically diverse societies has a lower degree of trust.

[@VentraleStar]

That is the stupidest thing I have heard and has absolutely zero science to back it up. What is BACKED UP by science is that genetic diversity is HEALTHY for a population and that when animal populations aren't genetically diverse they die out or suffer from increasingly negative mutations.

[@nicholasfraser6332]

@@VentraleStar Instead of revealing you ignorance by calling statements about the significance of the kinship factor in human societies "stupid" and talking about "zero science", why not go and do some reading: I suggest you start with publications by Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Richard Dawkins, Frank Salter and Paul Collier. Believe it or not, these men are actual scientists.

[@aerogun18]

And you can't really ever seperate race from culture because a culture is an epiphenomenon of the group of people with a common ancestry which are responsible for the culture to begin with. Negating that seems to me an inversion of subject and object; you're reducing substances (the people) to their epiphenomenon, since the substances a completely replaceable and the culture continues on. This insinuates that when a woman is pregnant, she gives birth to a culture, and then from the culture comes the person. :/

[@perliva]

Sehr interessant, Danke.

[@GammaCatch]

I lived in Wetzlar and worked in Oberndorf for a while. Good Luck. I loved my little slice of Germany. I'll never see it again.

[@the-quintessenz]

Warum hält er den Vortrag nicht auf Deutsch?

[@mr.president3826]

Besteht die Möglichkeit die Rede von Dr. Alice Weidel hochzuladen oder wurde kein Videomitschnitt angefertigt? www.bdk-berlin.org/veranstaltungsberichte/das-volk-in-eu-fragen-abstimmen-lassen/

[@vkorchnoifan]

Is there a transcript of this ?? Somewhere ??

[@kauekodama3234]

Yes, in his books.

[@thechadeuropeanfederalist893]

muh identity

[@grisg.4121]

59:28 love

[@alongsleep]

Get Brexit done!

[@villiestephanov984]

💋 started @ 3:12 sharp. * 82:8 " naglása" or " naglasà" *2:194 +211(( ends @ 36:58)) Blagodariq Vi.

[@megaconus9174]

Common law and pirates, and you will govern the world (rule the waves). Apply to others what you hate for yourself. That is Britain. Don't be fooled by the sophistry of this Sir.

[@williammcenaney1331]

I usually agree with Sir Roger, but I don't care for liberal democracy. What should citizens do in a democratic society when the democratic process keeps alternating between something good and something bad? Many people hate President Trump, probably the most pro-life president in American history. President Biden is probably the most pro-abortion president in it. Though liberal democracy may work well in a country where most people agree on major moral issues. That democracy can do severe harm when citizens get something immoral that they want instead of something morally right that their society needs.

[@the-quintessenz]

This kind of dichotomy is not liberal, but doctrinary.

[@ceecee6679]

Proud deplorables xx

[@christianstern99]

Ganz schön arrogant von Euch, keine Synchronübersetzung und keine Untertitel.

[@bdkBerlin]

Lieber Herr Stern, eine Synchronübersetzung lief während des Vortrages. Für uns ist jedes Video mit Kosten verbunden, wenn noch Untertitel dazu kommen sollen, wird es natürlich noch teurer. Als rein spendenfinanzierte Institution müssen wir haushalten. Freuen Sie sich doch, daß wir Ihnen überhaupt kostenlos Videos zur Verfügung stellen. Der Mensch ist mit nichts so freigebig wie mit Beschwerden und gutem Rat, aber doch nur seltenen bereit, etwa durch Spenden auch tatsächlich seinen Beitrag zur Verbesserung zu leisten.

[@christianstern99]

@@bdkBerlin Danke, daß Sie so nett geantwortet haben. Ihre Erklärung ist nachvollziehbar und ich habe mich wohl etwas im Ton vergriffen. Dafür tue ich hier Abbitte. Es ist nur so, daß man freilich nicht von jedem Höhrer voraussetzen kann, daß seine Englischkenntnisse so gut sind, daß er einem anspruchsvollen Vortrag problemlos folgen kann. Eine fehlende Übersetzung und auch fehlende, kurze Erklärung warum sie fehlt, vermittelt manchmal den Eindruck, hier handelt es sich um ein Gespräch unter Geistesgrößen und eine fehlende Fremdsprachenkenntnis schließt einen Interessierten von vorneherein vom geboten Niveau aus. Daß so ein Service natürlich mit Arbeitsaufwand und Finanzen verbunden ist, vergisst man dann leicht. Sie haben recht, wir sollten dankbar sein, in den bedrückenden, aktuellen Zeiten überhaupt in den Genuss solch wohltuender Vorträge zu kommen, wie diese Ihr Forum einer Öffentlichkeit kostenfrei permanent zur Verfügung stellt. Also, Dank und Gruß und mit Wünschen eines weiteren Segens für Ihre wertvolle und wichtige Arbeit.

[@richarddelanet]

Interesting and pleasure to read this exchange. Alas I had to use an online translator, perish the thought.

[@user-we3yl2hi7e]

Bitte das nächste Mal nur in einer Sprache (also hier Englisch)

[@donalddesrosiersdsd5381]

conservatism only works when the king isnt a tyrant when the king is both moral and ethical...and thus also his subjects.

[@minodoraruschita9715]

frazeologie lipsita de orice legatura cu realitatea.

[@chel3SEY]

Disappointing that he read his lecture. No one his age with his knowledge of that subject should have to read a prepared lecture. He should be able to extemporise while reading from notes. To read verbatim is an unnecessary imposition on his audience and an indictment of his abilities as a lecturer.

[@TheVickikelly]

chel3SEY he had to read it so that the German translation can appear on the board behind and those that can’t understand English well enough can follow the speech

[@TheVickikelly]

At the start of his lecture he explained why he had to read the speech and that it is not his normal style as he likes to look people in the eye when he speaks

[@veronicawhatley5044]

Conservatism is a vision that nationalist's like , they use a tame theory to appear as if they are humanitarian but they are not.

[@johnubal2825]

I don't think any Conservative or Nationalist would consider himself humanitarian or look for excuses to seem such.

[@barbaratrehy4742]

Plurals don't need an apostrophe - nationalists

[@nigecheshire9854]

@Veronica Whatley socialist are the biggest murderers in the history of the world

[@dragonslayer7627]

This guy is so full of himself.

[@BubbaSpartans]

Dragon Slayer If you took the time to read his writings then that would be the last thought you’d have.

[@SianWinstanley]

A shallow analysis