Progressive Temperamental Conservatism

The recent debate over “temperamental conservatism” and Sam Tanenhaus’ essay in the New Republic, which Ross Douthat rounds up, suggests that nobody has any real idea what the term even means. Damon Linker’s analysis reflects this profound confusion:

Instead of standing athwart history yelling, “Stop!,” Tanenhaus’s ideal conservative would patiently clear his throat before ironically intoning, “Hey, would you mind slowing down a little bit so we can catch up with you before the next round of creative destruction?” That’s temperamental, not ideological, conservatism.

Any political philosophy that anticipates “the next round of creative destruction” and worries about being left behind isn’t conservative at all, temperamental or otherwise. It isn’t a sober, pragmatic recognition that change happens and must be accommodated. Instead, it’s a sort of milder progressivism, a belief in the inexorable march of history towards a preordained end.