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Author Topic: The Decline of Conservative Intellectualism  (Read 1993 times)
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oldiebutgoodie
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« on: May 13, 2009, 09:04:36 PM »

Is the Conservative Movement Losing Steam?

I sense intellectual deterioration of the once-vital conservative movement in the United States. As I shall explain, this may be a testament to its success.

Until the late 1960s (when I was in my late twenties), I was barely conscious of the existence of a conservative movement. It was obscure and marginal, symbolized by figures like Barry Goldwater (slaughtered by Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential election), Ayn Rand, Russell Kirk, and William Buckley--figures who had no appeal for me. More powerful conservative thinkers, such as Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek, and other distinguished conservative economists, such as George Stigler, were on the scene, but were not well known outside the economics profession.

The domestic disorder of the late 1960s, the excesses of Johnson's "Great Society," significant advances in the economics of antitrust and regulation, the "stagflation" of the 1970s, and the belief (which turned out to be mistaken) that the Soviet Union was winning the Cold War--all these developments stimulated the growth of a varied and vibrant conservative movement, which finally achieved electoral success with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1981. The movement included the free-market economics associated with the "Chicago School" (and therefore deregulation, privatization, monetarism, low taxes, and a rejection of Keynesian macroeconomics), "neoconservatism" in the sense of a strong military and a rejection of liberal internationalism, and cultural conservatism, involving respect for traditional values, resistance to feminism and affirmative action, and a tough line on crime.

The end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the surge of prosperity worldwide that marked the global triumph of capitalism, the essentially conservative policies, especially in economics, of the Clinton administration, and finally the election and early years of the Bush Administration, marked the apogee of the conservative movement. But there were signs that it had not only already peaked, but was beginning to decline.

[...]

My theme is the intellectual decline of conservatism, and it is notable that the policies of the new conservatism are powered largely by emotion and religion and have for the most part weak intellectual groundings. That the policies are weak in conception, have largely failed in execution, and are political flops is therefore unsurprising. The major blows to conservatism, culminating in the election and programs of Obama, have been fourfold: the failure of military force to achieve U.S. foreign policy objectives; the inanity of trying to substitute will for intellect, as in the denial of global warming, the use of religious criteria in the selection of public officials, the neglect of management and expertise in government; a continued preoccupation with abortion; and fiscal incontinence in the form of massive budget deficits, the Medicare drug plan, excessive foreign borrowing, and asset-price inflation.

By the fall of 2008, the face of the Republican Party had become Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber. Conservative intellectuals had no party.

MORE...

The whole article is worth reading.

Top Republican leadership is even now attempting to regroup and redefine the party and the conservative movement. They would not be doing so if they were exceedingly confident of the movement's prospects for the future. They know everything depends on them getting it right this time.

Should politics or a political movement be led by "emotion and religion?" How have radical right extremists done so far in holding together a party and succeeding at the ballot box? Should this faction continue to control the movement and the party?

While our current President may have had his fan following, I don't think he had a chance of beating John McCain on his own if not for the excesses and failures of the previous eight years. His election victory was probably at least as much due to Americans being fed up as it had to do with his personal political charisma.

When the conservative movement puts its trust in brain power and not in the emotional defense of dogma, it will gain and gain and gain in strength.

Does anyone remember the beautiful eloquence of William Buckley?
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nonesuche
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« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2009, 09:13:45 PM »

Yes I remember William Buckley well but to say that the entire republican party springs from emotion and religion is insulting to me, and I am not even a registered republican!

I could have done without the fist bumps, the casualness of our first couple on a daily basis to include finding nothing wrong with using slang, rap, hip hop, or even patting the british monarchy on the back?? Obama charisma is the greatest skill he has which is a skill to some degree, of manipulation.

 So it's the republicans without intellectual grounding?  oh my gosh I can't stop laughing 

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WhiskeyGirl
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« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2009, 09:24:55 PM »

It doesn't matter if you're conservative, liberal, socialist, or any other brand.  What matters is common sense.  You need a sound economy, a sound financial system, and integrity.

All those things are lacking.

jmho
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crazybabyborg
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« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2009, 02:53:29 AM »

I think it's funny that the article attempts to make a suggestion that conservative intellectualism is reduced to Joe the plumber and Sarah Palin when it's actually the conservative idealisms that Joe and Sarah conveyed that caused so many voters to rally to what they represented in SPITE of perhaps a negative impression of them as the messenger!
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WhiskeyGirl
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« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2009, 06:20:38 AM »

Barney Frank paraphrase - Freddie and Fannie are sound, you just don't want poor people to have houses...

It's not the poor people, it's the fraud, the casino style banking policies and deregulation.  It's the dismantling of good policies from the first Depression that kept America going for generations. 

Today, Barack is spending money at an alarming rate, welcome to change, "America - the worlds newest Banana Republic".

Highly educated people, dismantling the protections of the past, got us here, who will save us?
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All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
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