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Mr. Chesterton would say that I am a person with no philosophy, that I have no principles and that I am not even wrong because I dislike rules and ideologies. I am of the view that we do best when we just muddle along, looking at all of the facts and circumstances and carefully planting our feet without thinking too far beyond the next few steps. There are no iron rules of history and few questions that have the same right answer at all times and places. Mr. Chesterton wants to live in a world governed by a neat set of rules. He thinks that English and Christian traditions provide the right answers. I don't like this part of his thinking. It's a small minded conservatism that ignores the injustices and suffering that were meted out for many years to anyone not lucky enough to be born a wealthy Englishman who was a practicing member of the established church. But then when I scratch below the surface, I find that I like Mr. Chesterton more and more. He carefully picks and chooses the kind of traditions that he wants to follow and bends the rules that don't work the way that he wants, so that his values are closer to my own than they first appear. This is a man with a heart. He has compassion for the downtrodden. He's smart. He has a sense of humor. He is able to find things to admire in the people with whom he disagrees. In short, he is the kind of conservative that I could do business with, someone with whom I disagree about important things, but who would have made a fine companion for a night of serious drinking and talking.