208. Title &
Author: The Conscience of a
Conservative by Barry Goldwater (98 pages)
Genre: Nonfiction—Political Philosophy
Completed: 30 December 2011
Summary & Review:
United States Senator from
Arizona and 1964 Republican presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater presented
his political manifesto, The Conscience
of a Conservative, in 1960. This small volume includes Goldwater's
small-government solutions to problems such as education, ever-increasing federal
power and spending, labor, and welfare that would not only fix problems in those
areas but maximize personal freedom. I will post an “Arguments Summed Up” post
in a couple of weeks with a more in-depth summary of Goldwater’s arguments.
Like
Buckley’s God and Man at Yale (#176),
this book is a foundational text to modern American conservatism and also had a
big impact on libertarianism as well. Despite being over fifty years old,
Goldwater's arguments were dead on and could (and should) be applied to the very
same problems we are still dealing with today. That is the beauty of having
principles, and then applying those unchanging principles to problems as they
arise. By basing his political foundation on certain core values, especially
personal freedom, Goldwater’s arguments have been able to weather the years and
still seem fresh and relevant.
Rating: 9.5
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