In 1960, Barry Goldwater set forth his brief manifesto in The Conscience of a Conservative. Written at the height of the Cold War and in the wake of America's greatest experiment with big government, the New Deal, Goldwater's message was not only remarkable, but radical. He argued for the value and importance of conservative principles--freedom, foremost among them--in contemporary political life. Using the principles he espoused in this concise but powerful book, Goldwater fundamentally al... (show more)
In 1960, Barry Goldwater set forth his brief manifesto in The Conscience of a Conservative. Written at the height of the Cold War and in the wake of America's greatest experiment with big government, the New Deal, Goldwater's message was not only remarkable, but radical. He argued for the value and importance of conservative principles--freedom, foremost among them--in contemporary political life. Using the principles he espoused in this concise but powerful book, Goldwater fundamentally altered the political landscape of his day--and ours.
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Loved the book and the ideals it stands for. One of the amazing parts of the book that many on the left will say is so outdated is "the Soviet Mena... (show more)
Loved the book and the ideals it stands for. One of the amazing parts of the book that many on the left will say is so outdated is "the Soviet Menace." When you get to that chapter just replace "Soviet" with "terrorist" and the chapter fits exactly to this day! This is a political book that, agree or not, makes its points quickly and in a sensible way. Too many political books these days are turning into novels. At just under 150 pages (including intro, foreward, preface, and afterward) it makes more of a cas than most books twice its size. (show less)
Goldwater starts out with a very important insight: that conservatism takes into account the nature of the entire man, but from there it is downhi... (show more)
Goldwater starts out with a very important insight: that conservatism takes into account the nature of the entire man, but from there it is downhill. The rest is a combination of conservative equivocating on important economic issues, which might be summed up as "liberal ideas are okay as long as they aren't taken too far," and blindly bellicose Americanism, which moronically poo-poos the power of interaction between the citizens of rival countries to help break the bonds of tyranny.
Truly, I was disappointed. I had a much higher estimation of Goldwater before I started this book than I do now. Conservatism is a mess today, not because people haven't listened to Barry Goldwater, but because even Goldwater couldn't find the courage to take his essentially good (economic) ideas to their logical conclusions. (show less)
When he was at his political zenith in the early 1960s, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona was a force to be reckoned with. So firm and precise were his convictions that he was regarded as a scion of a fledgling new conservatives movement on the right, and was looked at and denounced as a violent and reckless warmonger on the left. Now largely forgotten, Goldwater's legendary manifesto seems to be all that is left of the man. Which is a shame to those who have had the opportunity to have read... (show more)
When he was at his political zenith in the early 1960s, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona was a force to be reckoned with. So firm and precise were his convictions that he was regarded as a scion of a fledgling new conservatives movement on the right, and was looked at and denounced as a violent and reckless warmonger on the left. Now largely forgotten, Goldwater's legendary manifesto seems to be all that is left of the man. Which is a shame to those who have had the opportunity to have read the book. Reflecting Goldwater's no-nonsense mentality, Conscience is not a lenghty book, but even with simple words and basic extrapolations, still manages to make a profound and logical argument for (libertarianesque) conservatism-in stark comparison to Paul Krugaman's The Conscience of a Liberal, which pathetically attempts to siphon attention in the reference and, for the most part, wastes time and space. Goldwater being Goldwater, Conscience does neither. THe essential book for any student of Mere Conservatisim (show less)
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An excellent defense of real conservatism. The federal government has accrued far too much power and is grasping for more. We cannot be the free nation we claim to be as long as this condition continues.
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