[MD] Neoconservatism

[aesuszynski]

David,

I think I just got whiplash! From Nike to Leo Strauss. Maybe if it had been 
Levi-Strauss, there would have been some continuity.

First impression is that the piece is quite slanted and because of that, it 
makes me sceptical. She makes a lot of assertions and doesn't back them up, 
like this one

"The policies are by now very clear: no
> gay rights, no liberated women, no uppity blacks, lots of prayer in the
> schools, a strong commitment to the death penalty, and the
> re-criminalisation of abortion. The latter is particularly important. Of
> course it will keep the women at home and out of the way so that world can
> be ruled by men in the proper manly fashion; but that's not all. More
> importantly, it will keep women busy having babies - lots of babies"

Maybe she never heard of the pill or thinks her readers haven't.

Also, I have read Bloom's book "The Closing of the American Mind" While it 
does mention with disdain, some of the events which occured in the sixties, 
I think it had more to do with the decline of academic rigor and the 
abandonment of the classics by the university.

One thing I heartily agree with is that neo-conservatism has nothing to do 
with conservatism. The latter is much more concerned with tradition and slow 
change, while the neo-cons seem to be all about making change for others, 
something conservatives for years have complained that liberals do.

Lots of interesting information to look up and digest.

Alice