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The Death Of Conservatism (2009)

by Sam Tanenhaus(Favorite Author)

3.26 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1400068843 (ISBN13: 9781400068845)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Random House

review 1: At first I hated this book because I disagreed with the author's political philosophy and his solutions for the decay of American conservatism. But upon reflection, I realized there is much of value in the author's criticisms of modern conservatism. It is indeed a movement fundamentally defined by revanchism. This cannot be stressed enough!The solution, however, is not a Republican Party that looks more like the Democrat Party. The solution is to reject Hannity, Beck, Coulter, Palin, Romney, etc. and return to Adam Smith, Burke, C.S. Lewis, Hayek, Von Mises, etc. A GOP that looks more like the Democrat Party will only accelerate the death of conservatism. And even were the Republican Party to succeed on these terms, it would no longer be a conservative p... morearty.
review 2: This book is an overrated, muddled gesture, widely reviewed and somewhat discussed but practically outdated. Here is Tanenhaus’s picture: there is Classical Conservatism (Edmund Burke, Disraeli) and there is this new-fangled Movement Conservatism (Barry Goldwater to the Tea Party). Classical is moderate and good—exemplified by Eisenhower and, gasp! Bill Clinton; Movement is radical and bad—see Reagan and Palin. The story is too convenient and sweeping to be accurate. He also complicates the picture by locating conservatism (good or bad) with the Republican Party, then problematizing his own binary by noting that, eg., Reagan oversaw an expansion of government and Nixon made some very progressive policies (EPA, Affirmative Action, Détente). Tanenhaus also equates to the things politicos write in journals or say in speeches with policies enacted once in power. Otherwise, this book is an interesting march through a lot of ‘important’ articles and failed campaigns of conservatism(s) past. less

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