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Zusammenfassung von The Conscience of a Conservative

Name: The Conscience of a Conservative
Rating: 4.4 (135 reviews)
Author: Barry Goldwater

Barry Goldwater

A classic statement of the conservative mindset

4.4 (135 Bewertungen)

22 Min.

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The Conscience of a Conservative
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What’s in it for me? A crash course in conservatism.

The 1960s in the United States have gone down in history as a time of political upheaval and cultural ferment. This period is often remembered as a left-wing rebellion against the staid 1950s by long-haired student radicals and hippies. But that’s only one part of the story.

Change was also afoot on the other side of the political spectrum.

By the time they finally reclaimed the White House in 1952, the Republicans hadn’t been in power for 20 years. Conservatives expecting the party to lower public spending and cut taxes were in for a shock, though. The “New Republicans” seemed to be just as committed to giving the state an active role in the economy as their counterparts on the left.

This was something many on the right refused to accept. Among those leading the fight for a return to first principles was Barry Goldwater, a senator from Arizona. He was convinced that, at heart, American voters were conservative. To win them over, however, the conservative movement had to establish its integrity and show that it cared about more than just wealth and status.

In 1960, Goldwater published The Conscience of a Conservative – a manifesto that gave the American right a new lease on life, and ultimately helped put it back in power before the decade was out.

In these blinks, we’ll explore the values and ideals Goldwater laid out in this revolutionary book.

Along the way, you’ll learn

how conservatism differs from liberalism;
why unions should only represent voluntary members; and
how the welfare state erodes freedom.

Unlike liberalism, conservatism looks at the “whole man.” 

What is a conservative? Before the 1930s, Republicans in the United States had a simple answer to that question: someone who believes in limited government and maximum personal freedom. But 20 years of opposition undermined this idea. By the time Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1952, many conservatives believed that it was necessary to – as he put it – be a “liberal when it comes to human problems.”

What these “progressive” conservatives were, in effect, suggesting was that their own creed wasn’t a comprehensive political philosophy. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

The key message here is: Unlike liberalism, conservatism looks at the “whole man.”

Liberals often claim that conservatives aren’t interested in the little people, and that theirs is merely an economic theory obsessed with the bottom line. The shoe, however, is on the other foot – it’s liberals who are only concerned with material well-being and who neglect other aspects of life.

In fact, only conservatives take account of the whole man. Let’s break that down.

In the liberal view of things, the job of politics is to satisfy economic needs. Give folks food, clothing, and shelter, liberals argue, and you’ve answered life’s biggest questions. Conservatives don’t see it that way. They also view humans as spiritual beings. Nurturing this superior side of human nature, they claim, is political philosophy’s highest aim.

This leads us to a second important point. When you satisfy economic needs, you can treat everyone alike – a full belly, after all, is a full belly. Spirituality is different. It can only be developed if you recognize that everyone is different; what fulfills you might not do the same for me. Satisfying spiritual needs, in other words, is only possible when we are free to decide what gives our own lives meaning.

Conservatism is thus a holistic creed, buttressed by the view that humans require both economic and political freedom to flourish. Without the former, they are reliant on an external power – the state, which can deprive them of their means of survival. Without the latter, they must submit to the beliefs of others.

Crucially, conservatives understand that neither of these freedoms can be absolute. As social beings, we thrive when we can live among others in peace. This requires social order, which in turn requires certain limitations and duties such as paying taxes. In the following blink, we’ll look at how this delicate balance can be struck.

The United States Constitution enshrines the principle of limited government – although both parties began ignoring it in the twentieth century.

“Government,” by definition, means placing power in the hands of some men to control others. Throughout history, it has been the chief instrument by which people have been deprived of liberty. The reason for this is that power corrupts, and – as the English historian Lord Acton put it in the nineteenth century – “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Fortunately, the Founding Fathers developed a solution to this all-too-human problem.

The key message here is: The United States Constitution enshrines the principle of limited government – although both parties began ignoring it in the twentieth century.

The erosion of states’ rights also erodes liberty.

Public utilities, banks, agriculture, education, and welfare – these are just some of the issues that the Constitution delegates to states rather than the federal government. States’ rights are at the heart of the constitutional framework designed by the Founding Fathers, who believed it was better that political questions be settled locally rather than federally. This framework survived into the twentieth century, but it no longer holds today.

The key message here is: The erosion of states’ rights also erodes liberty.

When properly defined, there is no conflict between states’ rights and civil rights.

There is a common misconception that the assault on states’ rights is often justified in the name of civil rights. To uphold the rights of African Americans, for example, this argument asserts that it’s necessary for the federal government to interfere in the way states are run on a day-to-day basis. This is misleading. In reality, states’ rights and civil rights are fully compatible.

The key message here is: When properly defined, there is no conflict between states’ rights and civil rights.

Trade unions pervert their own cause when they attempt to represent workers who don’t want representation.

As America turned from an agricultural nation into an industrial one, businesses expanded and became more and more powerful. By the late nineteenth century, bosses had the upper hand and workers were forced to accept whatever wages they were offered. Attempting to increase their bargaining power, these workers banded together to create a common negotiating agent: the trade union.

But unions didn’t just solve the age-old quarrel of wages – they created a new problem of their own.

Governments do not have an unlimited claim on our individual earnings.

Big government has changed the way American voters think about key issues. For instance, these days, taxation is regarded as a matter of public financing, with the most important question being, “How much money does the government need?” This obscures a more fundamental issue: freedom. Excessive taxation doesn’t just bloat the federal government – it also undermines individual liberty.

The key message here is: Governments do not have an unlimited claim on our individual earnings.

The welfare state is a new form of collectivism, and it’s a menace to freedom.

For many years, the most dangerous threat to American freedom came from Marxists who wanted to socialize the means of production. In practice, this would have meant a state-owned and operated economy based on the Soviet model. After the Second World War, as Marxism lost its appeal in an increasingly affluent society, a new danger emerged: welfarism.

The key message here is: The welfare state is a new form of collectivism, and it’s a menace to freedom.

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Worum geht es in The Conscience of a Conservative?

The Conscience of a Conservative (1960) is a classic statement of the conservative mindset. Penned in an age of bipartisan support for big government, Barry Goldwater’s manifesto rekindled a conservative movement committed to shrinking the state. Over the next 20 years, Goldwater’s positions on topics such as taxation, education, and welfare became commonsensical on the American right, laying the foundations for the 1980s Reagan revolution.

Bestes Zitat aus The Conscience of a Conservative

The Conservative looks upon politics as the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order.

—Barry Goldwater

Wer The Conscience of a Conservative lesen sollte

History buffs and politicos
Advocates of limited government
Liberals interested in the other side of the argument

Über den Autor

Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States senator from Arizona, which he represented from 1953-1965 and again from 1969-1987. Goldwater was the Republican party’s nominee for president in 1964. Although he lost that election, he was credited with sparking the resurgence of conservatism in the United States. Goldwater died in 1998.

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