Fremtrædende konservative intellektuelle: Giv os et Europa, vi kan tro på!

11. oktober 2017
3 minutters læsetid

Af Christian Egander Skov

Det er ikke hver dag, man hører konservative lege med idéen om flertydige tilhørsforhold.

I en situation, hvor mange gennem lang tid har opfattet EU som en trussel mod deres hjemlands suverænitet samt deres egen nationale identitet, og hvor mange europæisk orienterede netop har betonet deres europæiske identitet på bekostning af deres nationale, er det nemt at glemme, at vi faktisk er europæere, og at vores skæbne er bundet til kontinentets.

Hvordan skal man balancere mellem forsvaret for det nationale og forsvaret for Europa i en tid, hvor Europa er blevet synonym for overgrebet mod det nationale? Ja, hvordan skal vi både forsvare Europa og forsvare os imod Europa, kunne man også sige?

En gruppe fremtrædende konservative intellektuelle, herunder Roger Scruton, har skrevet et manifest, der forsøger denne ballancegang.

Det begynder med ordene:

“Europe belongs to us, and we belong to Europe. These lands are our home; we have no other. The reasons we hold Europe dear exceed our ability to explain or justify our loyalty. It is a matter of shared histories, hopes and loves. It is a matter of accustomed ways, of moments of pathos and pain. It is a matter of inspiring experiences of reconciliation and the promise of a shared future. Ordinary landscapes and events are charged with special meaning—for us, but not for others. Home is a place where things are familiar, and where we are recognized, however far we have wandered. This is the real Europe, our precious and irreplaceable civilization”

Over for dette ægte Europa – Le pays réel som Maurras ville have sagt. Sætter de konservative intellektuelle det falske Europa, eller Le pays légal, hvis vi skal blive i den terminologi, der tydeligt har inspireret manifestet.

Europe, in all its richness and greatness, is threatened by a false understanding of itself. This false Europe imagines itself as a fulfilment of our civilization, but in truth it will confiscate our home. It appeals to exaggerations and distortions of Europe’s authentic virtues while remaining blind to its own vices. Complacently trading in one-sided caricatures of our history, this false Europe is invincibly prejudiced against the past.

Og det fortsætter:

The patrons of the false Europe are bewitched by superstitions of inevitable progress. They believe that History is on their side, and this faith makes them haughty and disdainful, unable to acknowledge the defects in the post-national, post-cultural world they are constructing.

Og endeligt:

The true Europe is at risk because of the suffocating grip that the false Europe has over our imaginations. Our nations and shared culture are being hollowed out by illusions and self-deceptions about what Europe is and should be. We pledge to resist this threat to our future. We will defend, sustain and champion the real Europe, the Europe to which we all in truth belong.

Forsvaret for det ægte Europa mod det falske. Et værdigt programpunkt for enhver konservativ. I det hele taget er der tale om et bemærkelsesværdigt klarsynet program, der understreger, at der faktisk findes tænkende, konservative i Europa, der ikke har gjort sig selv til automater, der forsvarer den politiske og åndelige status quo eller forvandlet sig til frådende højreradikale billedstormere.

Manifestet kommer da også ind på populismen, hvor der helt tydelig er reservationer, men også en erkendelse af det sunde potentiale i vor tids revolte mod eliten.

There is great anxiety in Europe today because of the rise of what is called ‘populism’—though the meaning of the term seems never to be defined, and it is used mostly as invective. We have our reservations. Europe needs to draw upon the deep wisdom of her traditions rather than relying on simplistic slogans and divisive emotional appeals. Still, we acknowledge that much in this new political phenomenon can represent a healthy rebellion against the tyranny of the false Europe, which labels as ‘anti-democratic’ any threat to its monopoly on moral legitimacy. The so-called “populism” challenges the dictatorship of the status quo, the ‘fanaticism of the centre,’ and rightly so. It is a sign that even in the midst of our degraded and impoverished political culture, the historical agency of the European peoples can be reborn.

Læs det hele, det fortjener det.

Hvem står bag. Listen af underskrivere er ganske kort, men bærer en række tunge navne fra den europæiske konservative tradition. Undersøg det selv. De er:

Phillipe Bénéton (France)
Rémi Brague (France)
Chantal Delsol (France)
Roman Joch (Česko)
Lánczi András (Magyarország)
Ryszard Legutko (Polska)
Roger Scruton (United Kingdom)
Robert Spaemann (Deutschland)
Bart Jan Spruyt (Nederland)
Matthias Storme (België)

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