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The Conservative Soul: Fundamentalism, Freedom, and the Future of the Right
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Average Rating:  out of 32 Reviews
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Price: $14.95
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Sale: $5.00
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Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780060934378
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Paperback
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Author: Andrew Sullivan
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Publisher: Harper Perennial
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Dewey Decimal Number: 320
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Publication Date: 2007-10-01
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Reading Level: 304
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Description: Today's conservatives support the idea of limited government, but they have increased government's size and power to new heights. They believe in balanced budgets, but they have boosted government spending, debt, and pork to record levels. They believe in national security but launched a reckless, ideological occupation in Iraq that has made us tangibly less safe. They have substituted religion for politics and damaged both. In The Conservative Soul, one of the nation's leading political commentators makes an impassioned call to rescue conservatism from the excesses of the Republican far right, which has tried to make the GOP the first fundamentally religious party in American history. In this bold and powerful book, Andrew Sullivan makes a provocative, prescient, and heartfelt case for a revived conservatism at peace with the modern world, and dedicated to restraining government and empowering individuals to live rich and fulfilling lives.
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Honest & Direct |
Date: 2007-06-04 |
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Details: Great book! Andrew Sullivan spoke at my local library and he was loved by all. Had him sign this book for my collection. |
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Review Summary: Highly Recommended |
Date: 2007-03-24 |
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Details: This is one book that has had a huge influence on my political philosophy. Both the author and I grew up in conservative homes, grew up in Christian homes, and voted for G.W. Bush in 2000. Before I picked up the book, that's where the similarities ended.
Sullivan is truly a fascinating man. A homosexual, British, Catholic who voted for John Kerry in 2004. Sullivan lives with HIV and I say that only to say that it doesn't stop him from living life to the fullest, from speaking passionately about the America he still believes in, his adoptive country. That is where the differences begin. But as I read his book I felt his ideas resonate with me strongly.
The term conservatism has been taken over in the last 15 years or so and abused and Andrew Sullivan's mission is to take it back. If you lament what conservatism used to be, and dream of what it truly can be, this is the book for you. His main theme is that our politics should be a politics of doubt, that is, a realization that individual humans don't have all the answers for everyone else at any point in time. Thus the beauty of the freedom that has been written into our constitution here in America.
If you know of a conservative or a fundamentalist, who is thick-headed, blindly passionate about their views, not willing to consider error in their own perspective or listen to sound reason, this is the book that just might break them down. So do be careful.
Other Information: It is a quick read with large margins and double-spacing and it is a page-turner. It is the kind of book you will want to pass on to your friends and family. |
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Review Summary: A Conservative left behind |
Date: 2007-03-19 |
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Details: In the first chapter Andrew Sullivan works to earn his Conservative credentials by launching a measured attack on liberalism but most of the rest of the book is one long critique of the current evolution of American Conservativism. The bread and butter of the modern Conservative movement are gays, guns and abortions. Ironically this `Conservative' author produces perhaps the best defense of pro-choice I have ever read as well as a wonderful defense of secularism. Combine that with the fact that the author is gay (and British) and you have a rather unique voice among Conservatives.
The point where Mr. Sullivan lost me was in his distinction between true Conservatives and radicalized Conservatives. He writes, `It [conservativism] never seeks to return to a golden age or a distant past' Really? Returning to the past is generally one of, if not THE defining feature of Conservativism. The author might want to read `The Conservative Mind' by Russell Kirk or `The Conservative Intellectual Movement' by George H. Nash to see an endless parade of Conservative intellectuals pining for some bygone era. Later, the author states that, "...Conservativism's great philosophical advantage over liberalism [is that] it can be more flexible." William F. Buckley famously stated that Conservatives `stands athwart history, yelling Stop'. Conservatives have stood in the way of civil rights, woman's suffrage and now gay rights. To a Conservative the American family is mom, dad and 2.2 children. Understanding of right and wrong can only be derived from Judeo-Christians teachings and moral relativity is the bane of an ethical society. Sounds about as flexible as a brick. One final jaw dropper is Mr. Sullivan's claim that `Conservatives, after all, hate war.' Somehow I think that the modern Conservative movement has completely left Andrew Sullivan behind. He considers neither religious fundamentalist nor libertarians to be true Conservatives when in fact they are the base.
Another argument that the author uses is that George W. Bush isn't a true Conservative but this leads back to the question of what a true Conservative is. John Dean and Bruce Bartlett both used this same tactic. My opinion is that George W. Bush is the reductio ad absurdum of Conservativism. Bush is anti-intellectual, pro defense spending and singularly obsessed with lowering taxes. He also shares the paleo-conservatives love of religion as a panacea for society's moral failings. No man could possibly meet all definitions of a Conservative because many are mutually exclusive. The problem with Bush is that he is a classic ideologue who surrounds himself with like minded ideologues. Even Reagan who was the prototypical Conservative was pragmatic enough to raise taxes when it needed to be done. Bush on the other hand would stick to his agenda until the world came crashing down in a smoldering heap. This doesn't make him non-Conservative it just makes him inflexible.
Despite my criticisms this is a really terrific book and a pleasure to read. In an age where the spokespeople for Conservativism range from repugnant (Tom DeLay) to psychopathic (Ann Coulter) and all points in between (Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly etc) it's refreshing to see a Conservative with class, dignity and actual writing talent. I could see myself sitting down with Andrew Sullivan and having an enjoyable conversation, agreeing on some points and disagreeing on others. The only real demerit I give the book is that the most interesting writing is in the first half of the book and it loses steam in the second half. Still, I have no qualms about giving it a solid five stars. It would be wonderful to see Andrew Sullivan's brand of Conservativism replace the current toxic blend.
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Review Summary: A thoughtful critique of modern day (ie big government) Conservatism |
Date: 2007-02-24 |
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Details: Mr. Sullivan makes me nervous. He seems to jump around an awful lot (I suppose that's the nature of being a blogger), and it would seem from his snippets that his theory isn't very coherent and serves only his personal station in life. In this book, however, he comes up with a very honest and meaningful discussion of how modern day conservatism (myself included) has fallen short of the principles of personal liberty and how the ideal government should be essentially unnoticeable. We've abandoned classical liberalism/libertarianism for the all-things-to-all-people, personal-liberty-be-damned philosophy of big 'L' Liberals like Clinton/Kerry/Pelosi and (dare I say) Bush/McCain. A worthy read for any side of the aisle. |
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Review Summary: Anything Sullivan likes is conservatism |
Date: 2007-02-02 |
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Details: Liberals will enjoy Sullivan's savaging in the first two thirds of this book of religious fundamentalism, of neo-conservatives, and of G. W. Bush. The final third, however, just isn't worth reading for anyone. Somehow, despite spending many pages elucidating Hobbes in a patronizing manner, he still misses the point that Hobbes was making. When he finally gets around to explaining his view of "real" conservatism (which sounds rather like Clinton liberalism), he beats the drum for just one idea agreed upon by all conservatives - the sanctity of property rights. This makes it all the more tragic that he fails to understand Hobbes' central point, that property rights are the result of government not the basis for it. Hobbes' message is that without the cooperation of your society, "your" property is only that which you can physically defend.
Sullivan's definition of conservatism is the defense of all the things that make Andrew Sullivan happy, such as gay marriage, worshipping Reagan and Thatcher, and most of all, having everybody defend his property rights while expecting nothing in return. Perhaps when he finally understands Hobbes he'll recognize that he's not really a conservative and that all those things he so thoroughly derides in this book are the essence of American conservatism. |
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