Want to learn the ideas in The Conservative Mind better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of The Conservative Mind by Philip Rieff here.

Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.

Video Summaries of The Conservative Mind

We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on The Conservative Mind, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Philip Rieff.

1-Page Summary of The Conservative Mind

Overview

Throughout history, many societies have believed in a divine order. This means that the gods created the world and some people are better than others. If this order is disrupted, immorality follows and society collapses. A leader must be extraordinary to safeguard this order. Tribal kings, caesars or modern-day politicians are more suited for leadership than most people are because they were chosen by the gods themselves.

Many conservatives share these same views. If there is no God to keep our actions in check, how can we act morally? And if everyone is created equally, who should lead?

I will discuss three key points that explain why conservatives believe in a democratic system, which is flawed; how scientific studies are misleading and can’t predict human behavior properly; and why property for the conservative is power.

Big Idea #1: A conservative is guided by a moralistic higher power. God exists and influences everything we do.

The conservative movement was founded in the late 1700s by Edmund Burke. He wrote an influential book that brought together many different ideas of conservatism. Since then, other thinkers have added to it and contributed their own beliefs about what being a conservative means. All conservatives share one common trait: strong religious beliefs.

Some conservatives believe that there is a higher power inside of us and in our actions. This belief comes from Christianity, which says that the presence of God can be felt inside each individual.

According to Burke, reason and revelation strongly suggest that God exists. After all, so many people believe in God; this must mean that he exists. If not, where could these beliefs have originated?

God’s will can be seen in human history, because God influences our lives greatly. If something is still around after many years, it must have been put there by God. Otherwise, such a thing would not have lasted through the ages.

God does exist, and we should remember that. If we forget about God’s influence on our lives, then life would lose its meaning.

In the conservative mindset, God is in control of everything that happens. Say you entered into a business contract and decided to break it. You didn’t think anyone would find out about it.

If this were true, then the only thing that would stop you from breaking your promise is a belief in something greater than yourself. If you break it, you’re doing something morally wrong.

Big Idea #2: A conservative does not believe in the call of the French Revolution: “All men are created equal.”

Edmund Burke’s book on the French Revolution criticized many of its philosophies. Although he agreed that people are all different, he believed that they aren’t equal in terms of their gender, age, strength, morality and intellect.

It’s easy to see how these features of people can have a major impact on their lives. For example, surgeons who are calm and steady will be better at what they do than those who aren’t. In the same way, it is harmful and even deceptive to say that everyone is equal when our differences affect us so drastically. Let’s say you have a friend who isn’t very good an actor. You tell him he’ll win an Oscar someday because everyone has the same chance of success in acting as anyone else does. Yet your friend doesn’t act well at all! Looking at it another way, different types of soil are well-suited for certain kinds of plants but not others despite being made from the same earth material. To say that all soil is equal and any plant can grow in any place ignores reality!

This is a list of the core conservative principles. These are what conservatives believe about democracy: