tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post4231065212996297141..comments2023-09-15T04:27:57.129-04:00Comments on Commentarama: Irving Kristol--Titan Of The Modern Conservative MovementAndrewPricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-29927626932716398432009-09-20T21:28:26.876-04:002009-09-20T21:28:26.876-04:00HamiltonsGhost: I was affected very much by it. ...HamiltonsGhost: I was affected very much by it. Some of my friends and allies at Berkeley were also affected, but much earlier (such as David Horowitz). It also seems that the deeper they were in the left, the farther they went to the right. But that might just be my own perception of it.LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-88304706902513878772009-09-20T14:27:29.255-04:002009-09-20T14:27:29.255-04:00Lawhawk--I'm glad to know I'm not the only...Lawhawk--I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who knew very little about Irving Kristol. I wonder how many people would never have made that leap from liberalism to conservatism without the thoughts and encouragement of a fine mind who had made the transition ahead of them. I also see how his "neo" fit into his admiration for Reagan's ability to take the dour nature of conservative thought and convert it into a dynamic new way of implementing his reforms (thanks to the link you provided to his "Reality Principles").HamiltonsGhosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07777000856977635480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-4740571856832837072009-09-20T13:24:08.058-04:002009-09-20T13:24:08.058-04:00Here is a good description of Kristol's use of...Here is a good description of Kristol's use of the word "neoconservative" as late as the mid-eighties. He later said that Reagan's adoption of neoconservatism was later perverted by those who saw massive intervention overseas and government growth domestically as legitimate uses of government power to advance Reagan's far more limited agenda:<br /><br />The administration of Ronald Reagan is a fascinating meld of two strands of conservative thinking. The first is a traditional conservatism that emphasizes the prudential management of both economic affairs and foreign policy.<br /><br />"At least half the time, Mr. Reagan speaks and acts as such a traditional conservative. But he also, at critical moments, speaks and acts as a new kind of conservative—a "neoconservative." Neoconservatism is that strange creature, a future-oriented conservatism, stressing the economics of growth rather than of stability, the politics of hope rather than of preservation. It exudes a spirit of buoyant self-confidence rather than of grim defensiveness. It is this new kind of conservatism that marks this administration off from previous Republican administrations. It is neoconservatism that gave rise to supply-side economics and to what one may now call a "supply-side" foreign policy—i.e., a policy of action rather than reaction, as represented by the invasion of Grenada, the Strategic Defense Initiative and support for the contras in Nicaragua."<br /><br />Republican Party--are you listening?LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-11564361550200248942009-09-20T13:02:27.009-04:002009-09-20T13:02:27.009-04:00Andrew: The liberals and the big-government facti...Andrew: The liberals and the big-government faction of the Republican Party have distorted the original meaning of the word "neoconservative" that Kristol created. When Kristol took the word conservative and added "neo-" he was attempting to describe a new way of looking at the American conservative soul and giving it meaning. Long before his death, he became irritated with the old guard Republican party which had morphed into what most people call neocons today. He called them "statists with imperial tendencies, as likely to disregard the Constitution as their liberal brethren." His son William co-founded <i>The Weekly Standard</i> largely because Irving saw no place for him at the more traditionally conservative <i>Commentary</i> magazine.LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-21136186328882980952009-09-20T12:50:30.701-04:002009-09-20T12:50:30.701-04:00StanH: Thanks for the sentiments. I probably had...StanH: Thanks for the sentiments. I probably had the same sensation that the generation of the late 1700s and early 1800s had as the Founding Fathers began to die. Most of them never met or even got near a Thomas Jefferson, but they all knew the words "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." And even if they didn't all understand all the rational and enlightenment arguments behind the writings of the Founders, they knew that they had wrought a unique change in the way people viewed their government and their own part in it.LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-11847295870984944132009-09-20T12:48:17.222-04:002009-09-20T12:48:17.222-04:00Sounds like an interesting path. As a conservativ...Sounds like an interesting path. As a conservative, I am less than thrilled with the new neocons. But it doesn't sound like that's who he was.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-26734617676085176972009-09-20T12:42:19.692-04:002009-09-20T12:42:19.692-04:00JoelFarnham: You have plenty of company in not ha...JoelFarnham: You have plenty of company in not having heard of Irving Kristol. I didn't even mention his early and important involvement in the American Enterprise Institute. America has always been a moderate-conservative nation, even during the height of the Roosevelt creation of the modern government-dependency state. Kristol was among the very earliest to see this and recognize that very few writers and professors had defined American conservatism. His seminal writing came in the late 40s and early 50s, and caught the attention of a young Yale student named William F. Buckley.LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-13728999038132126662009-09-20T10:27:08.866-04:002009-09-20T10:27:08.866-04:00Very nice Lawhawk, and heartfelt with strings to y...Very nice Lawhawk, and heartfelt with strings to your own metamorphosis from barking moonbat to a neoconservative. Maybe you can fill that void, as a proud conservative writer?StanHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07395708786509590321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-79822125922858491032009-09-20T09:18:08.473-04:002009-09-20T09:18:08.473-04:00Nice job LawHawk.
I didn't know anything abou...Nice job LawHawk.<br /><br />I didn't know anything about Irving Kristol until he died.<br /><br />I certainly didn't know he is one of the orginal conservatives. <br /><br />Enlightening. Thank you.Joel Farnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15856960977033430002noreply@blogger.com