We all know about Fraternities and the stigma that surrounds them. Frat boys are douche bags and meat heads. There is a lot more that goes into Fraternity. Theres brotherhood that is selected through rush. Rush is where the house opens up for three days for college students to come in and meet brothers of that fraternity. Brothers then pick from the potential rushee's. Back years ago these kids weren't picked on how "chill" or how a guy looked. They were picked because they were the best. Kids only got into someones fraternity if they were known as good and smart men. Edmund Burke would have loved this. He believed that people overall were, well stupid. Men couldn't handle freedom and needed to be ruled by smarter men. Well ruling has nothing to do with fraternities, the selection process weeds out the undesirable people which Burke would have supported. Fraternities on campus are laced with history. Every young fraternity brother could tell you of a game or event they have that has been passed down for generations. To go against a fraternity's tradition is frowned upon by alumni of that fraternity. There are old alumni in my fraternity who believe the way tailgates were run in the 1960s is the way they should run tailgates now. That is take all the cars out of the parking lots and invite alumni back with their families. Now times have changed and some things like tailgates have evolved into something else. However there is still that emphasis on tradition. Burke and tradition go hand in hand. He didn't want things to change, tradition was key. Fraternities are conservative in general. Burke was a conservative and part of being a conservative was observing tradition. Now I'm not saying Burke would appreciate the current day fraternities. Lots of them promote pure stupidity. Binge Drinking, dressing dumb, and doing a lot of dumb things. Burke probably would hate the social aspect of frats, but love the internal aspect. Burke is no fratstar and probably hates the movie Animal House. However he loves tradition and smart people. He would have been a fraternity man in the 1950s but I will in no way say Burke is fratstar.
I think your view that Burke would have believed in the traditional fraternity as an ideal interesting. It's true that a commonly held view is that many fraternity members are just out to party and have a good time. Being an intelligent member of society is not traditionally held view of this stigma. Burke would not have necessarily believed that the modern fraternity is a valuable organization but that, as a classical conservative, would have highly encouraged the fraternities of the 1950's and early that were based on tradition, intelligence, and fraternalism.
I completely agree with your take on tradition and fraternities. The biggest aspect of every fraternity is its own traditions and principles and Burke was conservative and would love the traditional aspect of fraternities. I also think that Burke would hate fraternities today. In his eyes, so-called "frat stars" today would only prove Burke's idea that people are inherently unable to handle freedom and needing to be governed by smarter men. I agree that Burke would cherish the tradition found in some fraternities, but tradition can be found in many things and I believe many fraternities entail too many things that contradict Burke's ideals for Burke to ever endorse the fraternity system.
We all know about Fraternities and the stigma that surrounds them. Frat boys are douche bags and meat heads. There is a lot more that goes into Fraternity. Theres brotherhood that is selected through rush. Rush is where the house opens up for three days for college students to come in and meet brothers of that fraternity. Brothers then pick from the potential rushee's. Back years ago these kids weren't picked on how "chill" or how a guy looked. They were picked because they were the best. Kids only got into someones fraternity if they were known as good and smart men. Edmund Burke would have loved this. He believed that people overall were, well stupid. Men couldn't handle freedom and needed to be ruled by smarter men. Well ruling has nothing to do with fraternities, the selection process weeds out the undesirable people which Burke would have supported. Fraternities on campus are laced with history. Every young fraternity brother could tell you of a game or event they have that has been passed down for generations. To go against a fraternity's tradition is frowned upon by alumni of that fraternity. There are old alumni in my fraternity who believe the way tailgates were run in the 1960s is the way they should run tailgates now. That is take all the cars out of the parking lots and invite alumni back with their families. Now times have changed and some things like tailgates have evolved into something else. However there is still that emphasis on tradition. Burke and tradition go hand in hand. He didn't want things to change, tradition was key. Fraternities are conservative in general. Burke was a conservative and part of being a conservative was observing tradition. Now I'm not saying Burke would appreciate the current day fraternities. Lots of them promote pure stupidity. Binge Drinking, dressing dumb, and doing a lot of dumb things. Burke probably would hate the social aspect of frats, but love the internal aspect. Burke is no fratstar and probably hates the movie Animal House. However he loves tradition and smart people. He would have been a fraternity man in the 1950s but I will in no way say Burke is fratstar.
I think your view that Burke would have believed in the traditional fraternity as an ideal interesting. It's true that a commonly held view is that many fraternity members are just out to party and have a good time. Being an intelligent member of society is not traditionally held view of this stigma. Burke would not have necessarily believed that the modern fraternity is a valuable organization but that, as a classical conservative, would have highly encouraged the fraternities of the 1950's and early that were based on tradition, intelligence, and fraternalism.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your take on tradition and fraternities. The biggest aspect of every fraternity is its own traditions and principles and Burke was conservative and would love the traditional aspect of fraternities. I also think that Burke would hate fraternities today. In his eyes, so-called "frat stars" today would only prove Burke's idea that people are inherently unable to handle freedom and needing to be governed by smarter men. I agree that Burke would cherish the tradition found in some fraternities, but tradition can be found in many things and I believe many fraternities entail too many things that contradict Burke's ideals for Burke to ever endorse the fraternity system.
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