A Vindication of Natural Society

by David Hamilton (March 2012)

The essence of Conservatism and Conservation is to conserve which derives from the Latin conservo, conservare, conservavi, conservatum. They are closely related and from the same root. The English Conserve derives from that and this opens up the idea that to a Conservative Conserving the environment should be part of the practice not the Liberal pursuit of continuous economic growth.

There are many aspects to conserving our environment and I have written in New English Review previously about the loss of our social environments by demolishing traditional buildings and ruining local ambience by new buildings that jar with their surroundings, but we are also responsible for our natural environment and the animals and flora that inhabit it.

This is not an abstract discussion in a university common room but a practical need to conserve what we have inherited. On my travels I constantly find scenes of beauty and history. This view of the pack horse bridge in Bakewell shows a beautiful bridge which has waterfowl around it. It was built in about 1300 and has five Gothic arches and triangular corner stones over the buttresses. We have responsibility to see it is passed on to our children to enjoy. Little platoons of fisherman help conserve the waterways to facilitate the practice of their sport.

The problem is human nature.

With the idea of progress life was sped up by rapid technological expansion. Economists, technocrats and scientists put their faith in science and technology and tried to create an artificial way of life as efficacious as nature. But artificial in such as processed foods, with harmful chemicals and poisons like hydrogenated fats. There are big increases in diseases such as diabetes and heart disease caused by the unhealthy amounts of sugar and fats the food manufacturers use. The industry is bent on short-term profits, not the long-term impact on flora and fauna-the natural environment.

The hydrogenated fat or hydrogenated vegetable oil in processed foods contain trans fats which are as harmful to the heart as is saturated fat. In the manufacture liquid oils have hydrogen bubbled through them in a process called hydrogenation to improve their texture, flavour and longevity. This produces a more solid fat, hydrogenated fat or hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is used in many processed foods.

But what is reality? Thalidomide has been forgotten but we still see the victims trying to function the best they can.

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The development of GM foods is carried out through the parameters of the progressive mindset of unlimited progress to a utopia. The utopia is variously, a perfect food, a means of feeding the world or crops that do not need pesticides. They lack a practical grasp of reality and are too optimistic and only too late will they realise the awful consequences of their actions.

Nearby, is St.Werburgs City Farm which opened in 1980 when a group of local residents got the support of Bristol City Council and established it. The community idea was to involve local people in the running of a working livestock farm and they sell the produce and offer recreational and educational activities. The Farm has constantly grown ever since with more land being leased, buildings built and new services added.

There is a city farm in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, likewise started in 1980 with a few chickens so inner city families could see animals they would otherwise not see. It encourages youngsters to value the natural environment. It has sheep, goats, rabbits, ducks, geese, turkeys and cats. (6)

There are television programmes about, say, a veterinary practice, where maltreated animals are brought in for treatment and countless photographs of mistreated animals are posted on social networking sites. People become genuinely upset but feel helpless. The law needs strengthening and much more severe sentences given for cruelty to animals to to give a more accurate reflection of our relationship with them.

Plastic bags and bottles, like diamonds, are forever

As well as causing serious harm to marine animals and birds, they blight the coastline, with 70 bags littering every mile. There is a similar problem with the plastic bottles drinks are sold in.

There has been a Keep Britain Tidy campaign since 1955 but this treats the average person as responsible when those responsible are the inventors, makers and distributors of the plastic bags. With so many plastic bags being handed out even the most responsible people must lose some now and again and they go into the environment.

It is retailers who must take responsibility for their actions. There is environmental damage and expense caused by the billions of plastic bags given away by supermarkets. This is a problem they have created because before supermarkets took over shoppers used to take their own bags to the shop with them and carry their shopping home in them putting the bag away until the next shop.

There is hardly anywhere in British seas where marine wildlife is safe. There is a need to create marine protected areas where wildlife can recover and flourish. The amount of litter on beaches has doubled in a decade. Little platoons of volunteers could work to clear our seas of the strangling rubbish that is dangerous to sea life and sea birds.

We are not evolving to a pre-ordained end, but a wholesome culture improves people and thus the community. The decline in oil reserves or a worsening of the economic slump which Progressives view as merely a potential hiccup in ineluctable progress calls fore a serious re-think and the solution will be the Conservative approach to community and nature that I am outlining.

The idea of Conservatism should be the conservation of what is natural in our culture, heritage, and natural environment. Conservatives must defend the environment we inherit and recognise our responsibility to our descendants. We respect the culture and our natural environment passed on to us and have a responsibility to hand what we inherit to our descendants in a decent state.