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Summary: Who are today's Conservatives? What would Barry think?
Review: "The challenge to Conservatives today is quite simply to demonstrate the bearing of a proven philosophy on the problems of our own time," notes Barry Goldwater in his introduction. The problems from 1960 that Mr. Goldwater chose as topics for his book were: States' Rights, Civil Rights, Freedom for the Farmer, Freedom for Labor, Taxes and Spending, The Welfare State, Education and the Soviet Menace. His thoughts later became political gospel for conservative activists and a measuring stick against which politicians were held to see if they were truly conservative. One such prominent conservative activist, Phyllis Schlafly, stated: "It is hard to overestimate the importance of Barry Goldwater to the conservative movement. If there hadn't been a Barry Goldwater, there wouldn't have been a Ronald Reagan." A closer look at what Mr. Goldwater wrote in 1960 convinces one that he would still have plenty to say today. His barbs would target both Democrats and Republicans. Perhaps it's discovering the barbs he would have tossed at today's Republicans that makes reading this book full of surprises. States' rights formed a cornerstone to Barry Goldwater's conservative thought. Although the States' rights to permit slavery were ended by war and constitutional amendment, Goldwater saw no such restrictions on a state's right to keep racially segregated schools. Simply put: "no powers regarding education were given the federal government" and "it has never been seriously argued ... that the authors of the Fourteenth Amendment intended to alter the Constitutional scheme with regard to education. ... I therefore support all efforts by the States ... to preserve their rightful powers over education." (p.35) The Bush Administration supports a court challenge to the University of Michigan's policy of giving African Americans racial preferences in admissions. Mr. Goldwater would shout "NO" to this interference. You can't have it both ways: supporting States' rights when they result in segregated schools, and opposing them when they result in greater African American enrolments. Goldwater further proclaimed: "federal intervention in education is unconstitutional" and "the alleged need for federal funds (for education) has never been convincingly demonstrated." (p. 79) It's doubtful if Barry Goldwater would have supported the Bush Administration's much touted educational initiative, the "No Child Left Behind Act," which involves the federal government in policy-making and funding. Forty years ago Barry Goldwater led the conservative attack on federal tax and related spending policies. Faced with the Bush Administration's tax cuts and its disregard for ensuing deficits, Barry would be fuming. He wrote: "While there is something to be said for the proposition that spending will never be reduced so long as there is money in the federal treasury, I believe that as a practical matter spending cuts must come before tax cuts. If we reduce taxes before firm, principled decisions are made about expenditures, we will court deficit spending and the inflationary effects that invariably follow." (p. 65) Finally, Goldwater called for "prompt and final termination of the farm subsidy program." (p. 43) He considered it unconstitutional. Last May President Bush boosted U.S. crop and dairy subsidies by 67 percent by signing a $51.7 billion farm law. Mr. Goldwater's analysis of the Soviet menace also makes fascinating reading in our post-Soviet world. First, he opposed the U.S. halt to nuclear testing. Tests were "needed to develop tactical nuclear weapons for possible use in limited wars" (p. 112). Barry Goldwater believed that limited nuclear wars were almost inevitable, for they provided our only answer to superior Communist conventional military power. Moreover, the U.S. government was tricked into halting tests. "Our government was originally pushed into suspending tests by Communist-induced hysteria on the subject of radio-active fallout." (p.113). I'm sure Mr. Goldwater would be among the first to rejoice that his worst fears were wrong. Second, Barry Goldwater opposed our official exchange programs with the Soviet Union, even though they received major support in some Republican circles (Eisenhower, Nixon and Kissenger). Exchanges would lull Americans into accepting Communism and reduce our willingness to make sacrifices to halt Communist expansion. (p.108) I think, however, it can now be argued that these exchange programs played a major role in undermining the Soviet Union by creating a core of internal opposition. Many Soviet citizens who saw the West first hand on official exchanges later risked the "knock on the door" in opposing Communism. They are the unsung individuals who "won" the Cold War. Ironically, Mr. Goldwater's vocal opposition to these exchange programs probably made it easier to gain support for them within the Soviet bureaucracy. Upon finishing Mr. Goldwater's book, it appears to me that Conservatives are still being challenged to "demonstrate the bearing of a proven philosophy" today, especially to many Republicans. On turning the last page, I was left wondering, if the Bush Administration fails so many of Goldwater's litmus tests for Conservatism, who are the Conservatives today?
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Summary: Libertarian Conservatism
Review: Barry Goldwater could have saved this country many of its fiscal problems had he been elected President. He lost though, and the government adopted huge programs that are still costing America to this day. Goldwater's brand of libertarian/conservative politics were responsible, compassionate, and not a burden on the American public. The large welfare state, wasteful education programs, inefficient social security programs, and other government controlled entities would not have been created had Goldwater's policies been accepted. He clearly explains why the federal government should stay out of the lives of the people and business, not only because it is for the good of the society, but the Constitution calls for it as well. Goldwater believed in expanding states' rights and letting liberty and freedom with responsibility be the norm in society, not a far-reaching goal. Had his ideas and precepts taken effect with his desired presidency, America would have been a far different, and better, place to live.
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Summary: Think
Review: Beyond the issues that are presented, beyond the thoughts that are conveyed, this book shows the greatest cause of America and the aim of a any true conservative: to preserve freedom. Mr. Goldwater showed himself to be a politician who understands government, a kind of politician that would have made Bastiat proud, a politician who sought nothing more than to perpetuate the ideals of the constitution with every vote he casted. Although some of the issues presented are a bit out of date (i.e. the Soviet Menace), this book has merit beyond time showing how any American ought to develop his or her political thoughts: simply on the platform of freedom. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to extend their political knowledge, or to even begin it.
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Summary: The Spark That Ignited the Modern Conservative Movement
Review: Don't be fooled by the brevity of this book. Goldwater managed to hit a home run with his synopsis of conservative values. Many of today's conservatives owe their involvement in conservatism to Barry Goldwater. He is a forgotten hero. Goldwater was derided in the 1980s for turning off social conservatives. Yet, the 1980s revealed Goldwater for what he really was - a libertarian. He was consistent in his belief that government ought not to be involved in our lives in any way, shape, or form. That included our bedrooms as well as our wallets. He was a visionary who had keen insight on virtually every topic imaginable. Reading his three-decade-old book today is like reading yesterday's news. It is still pertinent and applicable. And there is still much to be learned from what he said and did. No conservative can possibly go without reading this book. It is historical - a building block towards the Reagan 80s and the GOP Congress 90s. It belongs on the shelf of every political scientist (or junkie) as a reference on the conservative governing philosophy.
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Summary: One of the 25 most important conservative books
Review: Goldwater hit a home run with the stirring prose that fleshed out his classic statement of American conservative political philosophy. But it's not just the politics: it's the idea that Man is not just a political or econimic animal, but a spiritual creature in need of freedom to prosper. The opening salvo of this slim volume is still the standard by which I judge candidates (woe to them!). Goldwater asks: Where is the candidate who will say, 'I am not interested in government efficiency, because I maen to reduce it's size. I am not interested in whether legislation is needed until I have determined if it is Constitutionally permissible. I will not pass new laws until I have repealed old ones that have outlived their usefullness or that do violence to the Constitution. If I shall be attached for neglecting my constituents' 'interests,' I shall reply that I was informed that their interest was liberty, and on behalf of liberty I am doing the best that I can.' It dosen't let up to the last page. As a policy statement, the issue-by-issue refutation of statist orthodoxy makes the book comparable to Hazlitt's "Economics In One Lesson." This is the book that launched the Reagan Revolution, and it still has the power to inspire. -Lloyd A. Conway
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Summary: The battle cry of the Right
Review: Goldwater hit a home run with the stirring prose that fleshed out his classic statement of American conservative political philosophy. But it's not just the politics: it's the idea that Man is not just a political or econimic animal, but a spiritual creature in need of freedom to prosper. The opening salvo of this slim volume is still the standard by which I judge candidates (woe to them!). Goldwater asks: Where is the candidate who will say, 'I am not interested in government efficiency, because I maen to reduce it's size. I am not interested in whether legislation is needed until I have determined if it is Constitutionally permissible. I will not pass new laws until I have repealed old ones that have outlived their usefullness or that do violence to the Constitution. If I shall be attached for neglecting my constituents' 'interests,' I shall reply that I was informed that their interest was liberty, and on behalf of liberty I am doing the best that I can.' It dosen't let up to the last page. As a policy statement, the issue-by-issue refutation of statist orthodoxy makes the book comparable to Hazlitt's "Economics In One Lesson." This is the book that launched the Reagan Revolution, and it still has the power to inspire. -Lloyd A. Conway
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Summary: ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS IN THE UNIVERSE
Review: GOLDWATER IS THE FATHER OF RONALD REAGAN
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Summary: A book to mold your political worldview
Review: I read this book when I was in my 20's and it had a major influence on my life. Goldwater states the basic tenets of conservatism in direct and very convincing terms. The whole book, with the exception of the chapter on agriculture, is excellent. Buchanan, Reagan, and just about every modern conservative since has probably been influenced by Goldwater.
Rating:
Summary: A book to mold your political worldview
Review: I read this book when I was in my 20's and it had a major influence on my life. Goldwater states the basic tenets of conservatism in direct and very convincing terms. The whole book, with the exception of the chapter on agriculture, is excellent. Buchanan, Reagan, and just about every modern conservative since has probably been influenced by Goldwater.
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Summary: seminal restatement of conservatism
Review: I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. -Barry Goldwater (1964 Republican Convention Acceptance Speech) If, as Oscar Wilde opined, homosexuality is "the love that dare not speak its name," then we might say that Conservatism is "the political philosophy that dare not speak the truth." Liberals are wont to bathe the masses in comforting but demonstrably false platitudes, because at the root of their political philosophy they maintain a series of fictions, like: (1) we're all essentially equal--all differences in intelligence, ability, etc. are a function of external factors and these external factors can be corrected by government; or, (2) all problems, both international and domestic, are soluble by government action because basically we all really have each others best interests at heart, we just sometimes need a push from Big Brother to realize it; and so on. Conservatism meanwhile is based on a set of somewhat ugly truths, derived from hard experience: (1) the natural state of man, like that of other animals, is one of competition, not cooperation; (2) it is because this competition was so brutal, often fatal, that men reluctantly gave up some measure of freedom, in order to establish a government to protect them from one another; (3) government, foreign and domestic, is now the greatest threat to man, because those governments will seek ever increasing levels of control over human behavior; and so on. Obviously, conservatives are left with a harder sell here. Therefore, while conservative academics express themselves openly, you very seldom hear conservative politicians present their ideas in simple unvarnished fashion; for the most part it gets dressed up in warm fuzzy language. Every once in a while though, especially in times of great crisis, someone will step forward and actually enunciated conservative values in blunt terms--modern instances include: Herbert Hoover in his post presidency phase; Charles Lindbergh and the America First movement; George S. Patton during WWII; Robert Taft after the War; Barry Goldwater in the early '60s; Ronald Reagan from 1962 to 1988; and Alan Keyes today. Significantly, most of these men were either destroyed personally or were denied the opportunity to exercise real power, either by voters or by party power brokers. For all the noble cant about how voters wish that politicians were more truthful, their actions at the voting booth tend to indicate the opposite. They would much rather be comforted than confronted. It is against this backdrop that we must consider Barry Goldwater's seminal treatise The Conscience of a Conservative. And it is only once we understand these circumstances that we can appreciate how significant a book it was; in fact, it may be the single most important written work of ideology ever produced by a practicing American politician of any real stature. Considered first merely in terms of the audience it reached, only Tom Paine's pamphlets can be said to provide it any competition for popularity. Adjusted for population size, it is probably true that Paine's Common Sense is the best selling political treatise in the nation's history, but it is also true that Paine, though obviously political, was not truly a politician, at least not an office seeker. It is also the case that Presidents and presidential contenders have written bestselling books dealing with politics, but they tend not to be ideological. Instead they are wifty things like JFK's ghost written bit of self serving puffery, Profiles in Courage, or Nixon's eminently forgettable, Six Crises. Of course, ex-President Ulysses S. Grant wrote one of the great memoirs of all time, but he did not even deal with his presidency therein. The GOP did issue its Contract with America prior to the 1994 Congressional elections (a document which borrowed from Goldwater's book and philosophy), but there was no single national candidate behind that text (and its elements had been tested in opinion polls prior to inclusion in the final draft). No, there has really only been one great political treatise promulgated by a single man and then used as a campaign platform. For that reason alone, you would think this book would still be in print and be a subject of academic study. Even more remarkable is the fact that almost all of the book is still topical today. On the very first page, Goldwater talks about his annoyance at Republican leaders who feel compelled to call themselves "progressive Conservatives" or, as he quotes then Vice President Nixon: "Republican candidates should be economic conservatives, but conservatives with a heart." This discussion so closely parallels current Conservative angst over George W. Bush's use of the term "compassionate Conservative" that it's almost spooky. In his discussion of taxes, he comes out in favor of a flat tax in terms that presage Steve Forbes: I believe that the requirements of justice here are perfectly clear: government has a right to claim an equal percentage of each man's wealth, and no more. Pessimism is a sort of occupational hazard for conservatives. There's a tendency to say that things are always in decline from an imagined ideal point in the past. But men like Goldwater and Reagan recast conservatism in a much more forward looking mold and made it a philosophy of human progress and their vision has largely prevailed. We won the Cold War, cut and flattened taxes, reformed Welfare, started returning power to the states, etc., etc., etc... But as you read this book and realize that we're still fighting all of the same fights, you realize how little has actually been accomplished. I still believe that Goldwater is largely right--the future of America will be basically fiscally conservative and socially libertarian--but it will always be a struggle, one we're often losing. This slender impassioned polemic remains an important statement of the principles which should guide our public policy and its very immediacy and relevance amply demonstrate Goldwater's continuing political significance. He is without a doubt the most influential losing candidate in the history of presidential politics, one of the seminal figures in American political thought in the second half of the 20th Century, and his influence may well extend far into the 21st Century. GRADE: A+
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