What, pray-tell, is Cosmopolitan Conservatism?

cos·mo·pol·i·tan

   [koz-muh-pol-i-tn] 

–adjective
1. free from local, provincial, or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments; at home all over the world.
2. of or characteristic of a cosmopolite.
3. belonging to all the world; not limited to just one part of the world.


–noun

5. a person who is free from local, provincial, or national bias or attachment; citizen of the world; cosmopolite.

—Synonyms 

1.  sophisticated, urbane, worldly.  

con·serv·a·tism

   [kuhn-sur-vuh-tiz-uhm]  

conservatism as a modern political tradition, conservatism  traces to Edmund Burke's opposition to the Fr. Revolution (1790), but the word conservative  is not found in his writing. It was coined by his Fr.disciples, (e.g. Chateaubriand, who titled his journal defendingclerical and political restoration "Le Conservateur" ). Conservative as the name of a British political faction it first appeared in an 1830 issue of the "Quarterly Review," in an unsigned article sometimes attributed to John Wilson Croker. It replaced Tory (q.v.) by 1843,reflecting both a change from the pejorative name (in use for 150 years) and repudiation of some reactionary policies. Extended to similar spirits in other parties from 1845.

Cosmopolitan Conservatism is my attempt at classifying or examining my political and philosophical beliefs.  As I am still very much exploring and defining my core beliefs, I hope that by writing about them I will be able to more fully develop them.  Cosmopolitan and conservatism rarely are seen in the same sentence, and that is why I have chosen them to represent my thinking.  As a caveat, the definition for conservatism is "the disposition to preserve or restore what is established and traditional and to limit change," which is one that I find neither very appealing nor indicative of my ideas.  My "conservatism" is better defined as preserving and enhancing existing moral structures within society while using government in the most limited, effective, and efficient means possible. For the most part, I am comfortable in the mainstream of US conservatism.  However, I feel too that there is a need for a rebirth or reinterpretation of conservatism for the global age in which we live.  This is where cosmopolitan comes in.  

Much of 'American conservatism' is epitomized by the Sarah Palin's and the Mike Huckabee's - nearly the antithesis of "cosmopolitan".  People of my generation will not long stand for such insular personalities in a world where information, jobs, capital, and goods flow freely across borders like sand through an hourglass.  This is not to say that we must run to the editorial board of the New York Times, or the cafes of Paris for new personalities and bold ideas - I doubt they have them.  Quite the contrary.  But we (the conservatives of the 21st century) must be aware of and even curious of such things - not to become merely less-than-liberals, but to develop and update conservative ideals to govern the world in which we now find ourselves.  

Cosmopolitan Conservatism is an ideology that affirms that secure borders are imperative, but recognizes deep rooted economic and geopolitical situations that have brought us to this point.  This ideology understands that the immigration debate is how we will define ourselves as a nation in the century of globalization, not about doing exacting justice on millions of migrants.  Cosmopolitan Conservatism upholds the value of life from conception to death - but is more interested in results than posturing.  Cosmopolitan Conservatism understands that we are entrusted with the stewardship of this earth and we must care for the environment, but that doesn't necessarily mean what either the environmentalists or corportatists will tell you.  Cosmopolitan Conservatism embraces that government is a divinely inspired institution that functions best when simple and efficient.

And with that, I'll end this first post.  More explanation and a look at the issues coming soon.