Conservatism in America since 1930: A Reader

Um livro sobre a história do pensamento conservador, aqui um resumo do resumo de Dr. Enrico Peppe:

Section I - THE OLD RIGHT: In the 30's, 40's and early 50's, sundry individuals inveighed against the excesses of the anti-depression methods of FDR and what was seemingly becoming mass-democratic, populist fervor amongst the citizenry. It appeared that the Jeffersonian Republic was morphing toward socialism and empire...

II - Classical Liberalism: ...Under the probable leadership of Hayek and with the help of other economists, journalists, and philosophasters, the group would hold that, "(dangerous developments)...have been fostered by the growth of a view of history which denies all absolute moral standards...(the)...desirability of the rule of law...(and)...the decline of belief in private property and the competitive market."

III - Traditionalism: (Russel) Kirk's "The Conservative Mind," includes the famous "six canons." In abridged form, these are:

1. A belief in divine intent coupled with conscience, wherein politics is conceived as an appendage of Justice;
2. An affection for the mystery of tradition, as opposed to slavish glorification for the sterility of the Utilitarians;
3. A conviction that civilization requires order and an intellectual class;
4. A belief that property and freedom are connected.
5. A distrust of man's innate anarchic predisposition;
and,
6. A recognition that change and reform are not synonymous notions.

IV - Anticommunism: The Cold War unified the movement of the right somewhat (Morley and his Old Rightists still held out for a non-involved republicanism). ...A significant number of these individuals had been believers in and/or members of the Communist Party (notables include Burnham, John Dos Passos and the atheist, Max Eastman). Most had a connection with the nascent anticommunist journal, National Review. All had a relationship with the young William F. Buckley, Jr., the founder, benefactor, and steward of the weekly.

V - Fusion: The conservative meld created to fend communism was at best, tactical. The primacy of order versus the variegated immediacy of the free market as a priori underpinnings would prove too potent a dialectic for theoretical synthesis. But Frank Meyer tried for unification.

VI - The Plunge into Politics: With the great Robert A. Taft dead and Joseph McCarthy censured, it appeared likely that success in practical politics was a long way off for the conservative movement. And it was. The Reagan revolution was 20 years away. In the interim, however, there was excitement. As Schneider puts it, "The answer (to the void) came like a hot blast from the Arizona desert. Barry Morris Goldwater...proved to be the rising star of conservatism."

VII - Libertarianism: Goldwater had been soundly defeated. The Great Society emerged. (...) The late Murray Rothbard (who had written Morley praising him for his non-support of Goldwater) would, in a few short years, mobilize "individualists, classical liberals, Ayn Rand objectivists, and anarchists." Near-forgotten Old Rightists like John T. Flynn, Rose Wilder Lane, and Collins and Morley would ascend as spiritual godparents (Justin Raimondo's The Reclaiming Of The American Right is an excellent exposition of the ideas of the aforementioned). The success of the war protest can easily be attributed to the Libertarians.

VIII - New Rights:The piece by Neoconservative Irving Kristol defends corporate capitalism from attacks by both the Right and Left. Written in 1975, Kristol had not yet fully articulated his "two cheers for capitalism" stance (George Will had not yet discovered "soulcraft").(...) Godfather Kristol is seen rightly as a representative of a group of liberal intellectuals, some, former communists, many Jewish, most raised in New York City, whose ideas, for the most part, came to resemble those of the Religious Right (sans the incarnation thing).

IX - The Reagan Era: The election of 1980 and the subsequent Reagan era saw the influence of the Neoconservative ideology full-force. A revolution in government practice and economic machinations had begun -- and succeeded. Even the Democrats (albeit with some McGovern atavism) had moved to the center. Bill Clinton's election in 1992 was sure evidence.

NOTA: Mas outros diziam: "If neoconservatives wish us to take their conservatism seriously, they must return to the religious roots, beliefs, and values of our common heritage. They cannot dither in the halfway house of modernity and offer us technical solutions that touch the symptoms but never deal with the causes of contemporary disorder."

X -- Conservatism after Reagan: Pat Buchanan, Sam Francis, Newt Gingrich, and Paul Weyrich all offer striking variations.