Every democracy in the modern age has seen its politics divided into recognizable camps of progressives and conservatives: a party of radical reform and social revolution and a party of tradition and social stability. The divide has never been a clean one, and in America in particular it has been complicated by the nation’s liberal tradition (so that the conservative party often defends classically liberal ideals while the progressive party seeks to push beyond them). But nuanced though it always is, this divide has been a defining feature of the political life of the West in the last two centuries. It has been with us roughly since the time of the French Revolution—which indeed gave us the terms “left” and “right” for the two great streams of political instincts and attitudes.
(Yuval Levin, "Science and the Left," The New Atlantis [winter 2008]: 15-34, at 16)
Note from KBJ: After reading this essay on 10 June, I wrote the following near the title: "brilliant; beautiful." Take my word for it: It's worth your time.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 