The Decline of Traditional Conservatism and the Rise of the Postmodern Conservative

[Captdon]

Traditional conservatism, to me, goes back to Edmund Burke. I don't see him as a "me first, last and always" kind of conservative. When did that conservatism come into play?

That's what it has always been here. I mean traditional conservatism.I couldn't vote for a consrvative until Reagan.

[Chris]

That's what it has always been here. I mean traditional conservatism.I couldn't vote for a consrvative until Reagan.

Being a libertarian I prefer William Buckley over Russell Kirk but Kirk was the more traditionalist. Kirk's The Conservative Mind is a great read. They, and Goldwater perhaps, paved the way for Reagan.

[Captdon]

Being a libertarian I prefer William Buckley over Russell Kirk but Kirk was the more traditionalist. Kirk's The Conservative Mind is a great read. They, and Goldwater perhaps, paved the way for Reagan.

Goldwater was a nut job. He was an extremist by any definition. His people were rabble-rousers. Carter paved the way for Reagan.

[Chris]

Goldwater was a nut job. He was an extremist by any definition. His people were rabble-rousers. Carter paved the way for Reagan.

Nah, Goldwater was conservative/libertarian. His Conscience of a Conservative is probably what first got me thinking politically. Then Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom.

I agree, Carter, brought into office by the religious right, disappointed them, and they turned Republican.

[AZ Jim]

Goldwater was a nut job. He was an extremist by any definition. His people were rabble-rousers. Carter paved the way for Reagan.

Just like trump but with the ability to resist Tweeting!!

[Peter1469]

The left and the media portrayed Goldwater as a nut.

[Captdon]

The left and the media portrayed Goldwater as a nut.

I listened to his acceptance speech. He was a nut job.

[Chris]

Just like trump but with the ability to resist Tweeting!!

If you have no serious thought to contribute to this topic, find another.

[Chris]

A couple quotes from Goldwater's acceptance speech:

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!"

"Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions of equality, ladies and gentlemen. Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism."

[Captdon]

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!" That's not nutty?

He later talked about tossing A bombs into the Kremlin toilets. He voted against the Voting Rights Act and proudly said so. Yes, he was nutty. His voters preached the hate that liberals preach now.