Corey Robin posted this hilarious detail of the life of the "Father of Conservatism"
Edmund Burke ... terrified ... of dying in a debtor’s prison ...
Thanks to the interventions of his well connected friends, Burke secured from [Prime Minister] Pitt in August 1795 two annuities that would wipe out his debts and a pension
Robin's
"The Reactionary Mind", details how:
From the French Revolution to the Tea Party, conservatism has been a reactionary movement, a defense of power and privilege against democratic challenges from below