37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dems, read this book, April 2, 2008
As a Democrat, I was prepared to hate this book, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked this book very much. I discovered that I must be a moderate, if not a conservative, Dem.
Mr. Regnery explains in clear prose what it means to be a modern political conservative, and I found myself agreeing with conservatism, as he describes it here, nearly as often as I disagreed. Every left-leaning person should read this book, if for no other reason than to confirm their own, lefty tendencies.
As an example, after reading Mr. Regnery's thoughts on the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education (pp. 220-222), that almost touched off the second Civil War (or perhaps more to the point, War Between the States, if you prefer); I went to a politically liberal source -- A Peoples' History of the Supreme Court by Peter Irons, Chapter 30, "'War on the Constitution'" -- in search of some common ground. Sure enough, there it was. It was clearly in both sources an assertion of federal power over state's power. One argued the supremacy of Article VI and Amendment 14 of the U.S. Constitution. The other argued Article X.
Besides the underlying social issues, I gained a greater appreciation of the Declaration of Independence principle that the people have a right to overturn an oppressive government. To me that is a classical liberal idea. So, am I a classical liberal or a modern day conservative?
If you consider yourself a classical liberal, you might find yourself at least sometimes in agreement with Mr. Regnery. However, if you are a modern day Democrat, do not turn in your membership card.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, i'm not as politically moderate as I thought, May 5, 2008
This is a must read for ANYONE seeking to get the bit of truth out of the current political haze of distortion and confusion between true conservatism and true liberalism. I have always considered myself a moderate, even socialist leaning in many respects, until I read Churchill's History of a British Speaking people and Marx's Communist Manifesto about a year ago and became fascinated with how the ideologies developed in the 20th century history. Basically, after studying the various ideologies and governments stemming from Marxism (Stalin' Russia, Mao's China, the Soviet Union and many screwed up countries today, along with the Welfare state), I changed my mind on the socialist tendencies. I am 25, so I came of age under Bush's big government conservatism and repression of certain rights (which by the way, is going to lose much of my generation to the left out of reaction and repulsion, not personal ideology). I never considered myself a liberal, but hey, they were opposed to Bush so I felt closer to them than the Texan.
Anyways, I wanted to understand the history of this conservative movement that Bush, Reagan, Nixon, and Goldwater, Romney, McCain, etc all claimed as their own. It was clear to me that they all governed radically different from one another yet all campaigned/ are campaigning as a "true conservative". What this book helped me to distinguish was "neo conservatism"- big government conservative regulation, with Goldwater/Reagan conservatism, limited government classic liberalism style conservatism. I'm happy to have finally found a home with Reagan style conservatism, was thrilled to discover the intellectual roots of the movement in Buckley, Freidman, Russell and others, and how clearly the movement defined its goals against its opponents on the new left. Finally I am glad that I am with Buckley, and not with Fred Barnes and william Kristol- two examples of the "neocons" in the book.
Please, even if you consider yourself a "liberal" or moderate like I did, give this book a chance. Its a great history book, one that will not be read or given by our schools or media. I wish these was an assesment of liberalism like this one. You will probably discover Reagan style philosophy is far more consistent with your own ideas of governance than LBJ/ Nixon/ Carter style regulation and socialism. You will have to- if your American these principles are in our blood and imprinted on our hearts. I've always been a fan of trying to be as minimally ignorant as possible, and the journey has led me to Reagan conservatism. Also before I read this book, I had also read a road to serfdom, and the conservative mind- two books that laid the foundation for my ideology change. And finally, Bush is no conservative. In fact, his biggest lie (next to the big big one) during his presidency was convincing the public he was a conservative when he was a big government "compassionate conservative". What the hell does that mean? Its a cover up. He is not a conservative in hardly any sense of the word.
Anyways I am looking for another man or woman to lead our great nation again under the philosophy that literally saved our way of life, at least for the last 20 years. It's being threatened again, and again conservatives must unite to beat back the repression of our liberty and free market systems, private property rights, and reestablish moral order over moral relativism as the foundation of western civilization.
Also the similarities between McCain's campaign and Nixon's are surreal. I predict the same thing will occur if McCain gets in the white house- more regulation, more rapid expansion of government.
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