Conservative, Neo or Otherwise
Ξ January 24th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Intellectual, Politics |
I frequently read through the comments of politically tinged threads at Slashdot (and used to at Digg as well, but the sheer inanity forced me to stop), and I’ve come to realize that for all the indignation expressed towards the “neo-conservative” that there is a shocking amount of ignorance towards what an actual “neo-conservative” is. To listen to it’s detractors, a neo-conservative is a sinister, shadowy figure that works to manipulate policy for personal gain – frequently in concert with other powerful neo-conservatives. And depending on the mood of the detractor, they may or may not be a Christian fundamentalist. Actually, it sounds an awful lot like the description of the anti-semitic concept of the “International Jew” that so pervaded Europe in the 19th and early 20th century (and is on the rise again). In fact, in conservative circles, it is not uncommon to hear the theory that rantings against neo-conservatives is actually thinly-veiled antisemitism, especially since so many prominent neo-conservatives are Jewish.
So what, then, is a “conservative”, and what is a “neo-conservative”, and what is the difference between the two? While pinning down an exact definition of any ideology is difficult and is surprisingly similar to the Heisenberg Principle (that is the closer you examine it, the less you actually know), I do think a rough over-view of conservatism and neo-conservatism is worthwhile and instructive.
