My arrival (very recently) at philosophical anarchism has disturbed some of my conservative and Christian friends. In fact, it surprises me, going as it does against my own inclinations.

As a child I acquired a deep respect for authority and a horror of chaos. In my case the two things were blended by the uncertainty of my existence after my parents divorced and I bounced from one home to another for several years, often living with strangers. A stable authority was something I yearned for.

Meanwhile, my public-school education imbued me with the sort of patriotism encouraged in all children in those days. I grew up feeling that if there was one thing I could trust and rely on, it was my government. I knew it was strong and benign, even if I didn’t know much else about it. The idea that some people — Communists, for example — might want to overthrow the government filled me with horror.

G.K. Chesterton, with his usual gentle audacity, once criticized Rudyard Kipling for his lack of patriotism. Since Kipling was renowned for glorifying the British Empire, this might have seemed one of Chesterton’s paradoxes; but it was no such thing, except in the sense that it denied what most readers thought was obvious and incontrovertible.

Chesterton, himself a Little Englander and opponent of empire, explained what was wrong with Kipling’s view: He admires England, but he does not love her; for we admire things with reasons, but love them without reason. He admires England because she is strong, not because she is English. Which implies there would be nothing to love her for if she were weak.

Read the rest of the article

Joe Sobran [send him mail] is a nationally syndicated columnist. See complete bio and latest writings. Watch Sobran on YouTube.

Joseph Sobran Archives

The Best of Joseph Sobran