About this item
Highlights
- This anthology provides a timely critical overview of the American conservative movement.
- About the Author: Paul Gottfried is Raffensperger Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Elizabethtown College.
- 216 Pages
- Political Science, Political Ideologies
Description
About the Book
"A critical examination of the American conservative movement, with special emphasis on its development as a media phenomenon. As a whole, the book's argument is that the movement is neither conservative nor really a movement at all but a conglomeration of interests whose sponsors pay celebrities for promoting their causes"--Book Synopsis
This anthology provides a timely critical overview of the American conservative movement. The contributors take on subjects that other commentators have either not noticed or have been fearful to discuss. In particular, this collection of searing essays hits hard at blatant cult of celebrity and intolerance of dissent that has come to characterize the conservative movement in this country.
As The Vanishing Tradition shows, the conservative movement has not often retrieved its wounded, instead dispatching them in order to please its friendly opposition and to prove its "moderateness." The movement has also been open to the influence of demanding sponsors who have pushed it in sometimes bizarre directions. Finally, the essayists here, highlight the movement's appeal to "permanent values" as a truly risible gesture, given how arduously its celebrities have worked to catch up with the Left on social issues. This no-holds-barred critical examination of American conservatism opens debates and seeks controversy.
Review Quotes
[Paul E. Gottfried] long has been considered by serious right-wing thinkers to be the foremost authority on the subject; both its "neo" and "paleo" varieties. The book provides key insights into political developments since [the mid-1960s].
-- "American Greatness"Gottfried and his essayists succeed in providing, with compelling insight, a valuable renewal to readers' understanding of what conservatism has come to mean today.
-- "Choice"Many conservatives sense they're being had. And the conservative noticing the most is political philosopher Paul Gottfried. Sam Francis used to say that the conservative movement isn't conserving anything and it's not moving anywhere. The Vanishing Tradition, a collection written by and for individualists, presents sensible ways both to conserve and move.
-- "The American Conservative"The decidedly persuasive thesis of The Vanishing Tradition is that what is and is not permissible in conservative circles has been inverted since [Russell] Kirk's day.
-- "The Catholic World Report"About the Author
Paul Gottfried is Raffensperger Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Elizabethtown College. He is the author of thirteen books, most recently Fascism.