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Title: The Politics of Prudence by Russell Kirk ISBN: 1-882926-01-3 Publisher: Intercollegiate Studies Institute Pub. Date: 01 July, 1993 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Conservatism 101: Crash Course on the 20th Century Movement
Comment: Another reviewer said it best, this is "Conservatism 101." Kirk offers an overview of conservatism and the movement in the 20th century. The pillars of conservatism are an embrace of tradition, upholding limited government and ordered liberty. Moreover, he makes a good point, in quoting Hughes, he purports that conservatism is not an ideology, but the negation of ideology. He offers Kirk offers a bittersweet assessment of libertarians and their limitations and flaws as he perceives them. He elaborates on the Humane Economy posited by Swiss economist Wilhelm Roepke. Roepke stands opposed to the "colossal" mass welfare state of big business, big regulation and the proletariat masses. A humane economy rests on the principles of subsidiarity and distributism (widespread distribution of private property) while the state doesn't displace or usurp the role of civil society and its humane institutions. Kirk writes an obituary for the so called neoconservatives, though this maybe wishful thinking at best, since unfortunately the late Russell Kirk is dead, and well the neocons have taken over the conservative movement. Kirk also brings the ideas of Richard Weaver and southern conservatism to the table. All things considered, this is a good volume and a good introduction to true blue conservatism, though not Kirk's best.
Rating: 4
Summary: Conservatism 101
Comment: Russell Kirk (1918-1994) was a dominant figure in the post-World War II revival of Conservative thought. Toward the end of his life, he gave a series of lectures at the Heritage Foundation which form the basis of THE POLITICS OF PRUDENCE. Like everything Dr. Kirk wrote, the POLITICS OF PRUDENCE is insightful and also a pleasure to read.
The book is in a sense a summing up of Dr. Kirk's though and also a primer on Conservatism. Kirk describes 10 important events in Conservatism, 10 important Conservative books, 10 important Conservative thinkers, and 10 important conservatives. He also has chapters on the nature of Conservatism, Conservative foreign policy and the Conservative approach to various issues.
Dr. Kirk's version of Conservatism is somewhat controversial. According to Kirk, Conservatism is not an ideology, rather it is an "attitude" reflecting "prudence." Kirk defines ideology as a type of secular religion. For this reason, many libertarians have criticized Kirk for reducing Conservatism to an "attitude" rather than a coherent ideology that is able to confront statism. I don't agree with Kirk's definition of "ideology," but it is important to note that Kirk supported free enterprise, limited (and decentralized) government, and individualism. Although he wasn't supportive of libertarianism (which he critiques here in a somewhat off the mark essay), he was no apologist for the state.
Two essays stand out here. In "The Neoconservatives: An Endangered Species," he makes the now-famous statement that "And not seldom it has seemed as if some eminent Neoconservatives mistook Tel Aviv for the capital of the United States." In "Toward a Prudent Foreign Policy" he criticizes the first Gulf War as a "war for an oil-can." No doubt Kirk would have opposed the recent Gulf War (and been denounced as an "unpatriotic conservative" by the nitwits who now pass as deep thinkers in the conservative movement.
For an even more basic summary of Kirk's thought, see his book THE AMERICAN CAUSE, which has recently been republished by ISI.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Politics of Prudence
Comment: This book was the first one of Kirk's books that I read. I consider Kirk being one of the most inspiring writers when it comes to politics, but sometimes a bit unclear. The chapter on libertarianism offers a quite narrow presentation of the libertarians, and sometimes when it comes to practical action Kirk might be too close to the laissez-faire-liberalism that dominate much of the contemporary conservative thought in the US. "Ten Conservative Principles" is a very good consenation of conservative political and social thought. "The Cultural Conservatives" and "Towards a Prudent Foreign Policy" are other great chapters. In it's whole, I think this book is a good introduction to the contemporary conservatism in the US.
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Title: The Roots of American Order by Russell Kirk ISBN: 1882926994 Publisher: Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) Pub. Date: 01 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Sword of Imagination: Memoirs of a Half-Century of Literary Conflict by Russell Kirk ISBN: 0802839541 Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Rights and Duties: Reflections on Our Conservative Constitution by Russell Kirk, Mitchell S. Muncy, Russell Hittinger ISBN: 0965320820 Publisher: Spence Publishing Company Pub. Date: 15 August, 1997 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: The American Cause by Russell Kirk ISBN: 1882926935 Publisher: ISI Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The American Republic (Orestes A. Brownson: Works in Political Philosophy) by Orestes Brownson ISBN: 1882926927 Publisher: ISI Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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