Conscience of a Conservative
by Barry Goldwater
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Book Summary Information
Author: Barry GoldwaterEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-11-13
ISBN: 9563100212
Number of pages: 120
Publisher: Bnpublishing.com
Book Reviews of Conscience of a Conservative
Book Review: The Agenda of Freedom
Summary: 3 Stars
As the political season is upon us, I recently decided to read Barry Goldwater's "The Conscience of a Conservative." I was a bit surprised at what I read. There was little concern for the social agenda which has dominated conservative conversations in recent years. One might argue that back in 1960 at the book's writing, the "culture wars" were not on anyone's radar screen. Even in later life, however, Goldwater sparred intensely with religious and social conservatives. Their agenda does not seem to be Goldwater's.
Goldwater's agenda is freedom. His primary observation of human nature is its diversity. Each human being is unique, and it is the responsibility of each individual to realize his or her full potential. When government must exercise control, that action should occur at the most local level possible. Politics, for Goldwater, is "the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of the social order" (pg 5). In modern parlance, Goldwater is probably more libertarian than conservative.
Every other concern of Goldwater flows out of this agenda of freedom--the defeat of the Soviet Union, his reverence for the rule of law, the importance of federalism, his opposition to federal welfare programs, and his disagreement with court decisions and legislation on desegregation. The last is probably the most controversial. Goldwater agrees with the proposition that racial segregation in schools is wrong, but he believes that Brown vs. Board of Education is wrongly decided as an encroachment of the federal courts on what is a state issue. For some, they view Goldwater's position as an issue in semantics hiding racism. Others saw a man who desegregated his family department stores and worked to end segregation in the Arizona National Guard and in the schools and restaurants of Phoenix. Those facts, alas, are not in the book. Nonetheless, one still wonders how the agenda of freedom applied to unenforced civil right laws dating back to Reconstruction or the judicial activism of "separate but equal."
In the preface of my edition, George Will suggests that Goldwater's conservatism was greatly influenced by his Arizona upbringing. The spirit of the West certainly promotes individualism and a desire for limitless opportunity. Perhaps, being raised in Texas, I found some attraction in Goldwater's agenda of freedom. Moreover, I agree with Goldwater that there are human needs for which the government cannot provide. Unfortunately, since this book was about government, Goldwater had little to say about meeting those needs. Goldwater is silent on what is most important. Similarly, the Declaration of Independence hails the importance of the "pursuit of happiness" but is silent on what happiness actually is. Apparently, the individual has the freedom to decide. This isn't a criticism of the book, but it reminds me that politics isn't the source of my salvation. Instead, a free society merely gives me the opportunity to seek it.
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