Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Irving Kristol, Architect of Neoconservatism, Dies at 89
The Washington Post ^ | September 18, 2009 | Adam Bernstein

Posted on 09/18/2009 1:13:45 PM PDT by EveningStar

Irving Kristol, 89, a forceful essayist, editor and university professor who became the leading architect of neoconservatism, which he called a political and intellectual movement for disaffected ex-liberals like himself who had been "mugged by reality," died Friday at the Capital Hospice in Arlington.

He spent much of his career in New York but had for the last two decades lived at the Watergate apartments in the District. He died of complications from lung cancer, said his son, William Kristol, the founder and editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: arlingtonva; gertrudehimmelfarb; himmelfarb; irvingkristol; kristol; neocons; neoconservatism; obituary
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160 ... 181-187 next last
To: EveningStar

Condolences to Bill Kristol, and to the rest of the family.


121 posted on 09/18/2009 8:31:15 PM PDT by Palladin (ACORN is a criminal enterprise.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar
Rest in peace.


122 posted on 09/18/2009 8:39:21 PM PDT by GalaxieFiveHundred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar

RIP


123 posted on 09/18/2009 8:49:03 PM PDT by smokingfrog (No man's life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session. I AM JIM THOMPSON)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring; All
Some select quotations/writings of Comrade Kristol: "If you have standards, moral standards, you have to want to make them prevail, and at the very least you have to argue in their favor. Now, show me where libertarians have argued in some comprehensive way for a set of moral standards. ... I don't think morality can be decided on the private level. I think you need public guidance and public support for a moral consensus. The average person has to know instinctively, without thinking too much about it, how he should raise his children." "A welfare state, properly conceived, can be an integral part of a conservative society." "If you care for the quality of life in our American democracy, then you have to be for censorship." "There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people. There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work." "Patriotism springs from love of the nation’s past; nationalism arises out of the hope for the nation’s future."
124 posted on 09/18/2009 8:58:57 PM PDT by RAO1125 (Neoconservatism:Failed. Socialism:Failing (again). Next up: Libertarianism)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: mnehring; All

(Let’s try that again)

Some select quotations/writings of Comrade Kristol:

“If you have standards, moral standards, you have to want to make them prevail, and at the very least you have to argue in their favor. Now, show me where libertarians have argued in some comprehensive way for a set of moral standards. ... I don’t think morality can be decided on the private level. I think you need public guidance and public support for a moral consensus. The average person has to know instinctively, without thinking too much about it, how he should raise his children.”

“A welfare state, properly conceived, can be an integral part of a conservative society.”

“If you care for the quality of life in our American democracy, then you have to be for censorship.”

“There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people. There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn’t work.”

“Patriotism springs from love of the nation’s past; nationalism arises out of the hope for the nation’s future.”


125 posted on 09/18/2009 9:00:05 PM PDT by RAO1125 (Neoconservatism:Failed. Socialism:Failing (again). Next up: Libertarianism)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 124 | View Replies]

To: RAO1125

Paleoconservatism decayed for a clear reason— it makes no sense to found a rightwing political program based only on the status quo and resist change, when the status quo is appeasement, socialism, and counterculture.

Neocons were responsible for creating the three pillars of the modern right: 1) A strong, active military 2) economic growth and 3) culture, not counter-culture.

The paleocons were isolationist/non-interventionists who supported protectionism, and defended social issues in terms of conformity and homogeneity. Most conservatives today are neos, whether they know it or not.


126 posted on 09/18/2009 9:14:15 PM PDT by JHBowden (Keep the Change!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 125 | View Replies]

To: JHBowden

For awhile they were, especially after 9/11. But sense has returned. Look at the anti-government protests and sentiments going on. Some think conservatives, after the failure of neoconservatism, have simply returned to the paleoconservative ideaology of Buchanan, Kirk, even Reagan for the most part. I believe we’re in the early stages of something very different but vastly better for us as conservatives but also as Americans. We’re beginning the era of libertarianism. If Newton’s Third Law is correct, then the only logical response to the expansion of government both in the name of social progress and national security (both fallacies IMO) is the fight to shrink government, both at home and abroad, and to restore our republic. Kristol himself said that patriots stand proud of their nation’s past, nationalists attempt to bring about their view of the nation’s future. Of course, he said this in defense of nationalism.


127 posted on 09/18/2009 9:28:34 PM PDT by RAO1125 (Neoconservatism:Failed. Socialism:Failing (again). Next up: Libertarianism)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]

To: RAO1125

“We’re beginning the era of libertarianism.”

That means we’re beginning another era of appeasement, crime, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, family breakdown — our society disintegrating internally while external threats move in for the kill.

Libertarians are a lot like socialists — they think man is born good, and institutions corrupt him. They only differ on the boogeyman— the socialists think it is the corporations, while libertarians blame the state. Conservatives, both paleo and neo, realize that man is born evil, and institutions are our only hope to make him halfway good.

Once one realize what the religious call “Original Sin” — man’s tragic weakness for evil — one will be far less trusting of tyrants, terrorists, drug dealers, violent criminals, and even the market economy to some extent.

If Kristol should be remembered for anything, it should be for his analysis of counterculture. Capitalism, through its productivity, makes it seem like Mickey Mouse happy-endings are a law of nature. This creates the entitlement mentality that thinks that prosperity and peace don’t come with sacrifice. The bourgeois citizen is replaced with the bourgeois consumer, who, living in a world without risk, wants everything and wants it now, as if our actions (and inactions!) do not come with consequences.

Kristol is right. Think about it. The most capitalist areas of the country coincidentally have the most socialist voters.


128 posted on 09/18/2009 9:39:32 PM PDT by JHBowden (Keep the Change!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 127 | View Replies]

To: 1rudeboy

It used to be that “neocon” was a term only used by the rabid anti-semetic left.
More recently it has been embraced by the anti-semetic right, few as they may be, namely Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul supporters.


129 posted on 09/18/2009 10:06:13 PM PDT by counterpunch (In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: 1rudeboy

Almost forgot.
Thoughts are with William Kristol and his family.


130 posted on 09/18/2009 10:07:51 PM PDT by counterpunch (In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: RAO1125

Spot on sir. I’m not sure when being a Goldwater conservative stopped being cool?


131 posted on 09/18/2009 10:49:01 PM PDT by miliantnutcase
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: RAO1125

Reagan actually was one of those liberals who was “mugged by reality.”


132 posted on 09/18/2009 11:54:32 PM PDT by Chi-townChief
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar

Rest in Peace Irving.


133 posted on 09/19/2009 1:53:09 AM PDT by SolidWood (Sarah Palin: "Only dead fish go with the flow!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: counterpunch
that is hardly true...Neoconservatives are what they are and this term has been around for quite a while now and yes there are some goyim in the bunch too

claiming folks who call socially lib to moderate fiscal conservatives like Krauthammer or Brooks NeoCons are antiSemites is barely different than Bro calling folks who disagree with him racists

and btw..according to most political tests I'm around 25% Neoconservative and am no Jew...not by a long shot

I have nothing against the old man who just died...God bless him and I more or less like his boy but conservatives lukewarm on the culture war can defend their positions on the merits rather than claiming Jewish minority victim hood status

it's wrong and it's part of an overall problem which paralyzes us across all discussions which involve minority cultural participation whether racial, ethnic or religious

this notion that if you are aminority of any sort and have if your people have suffered in the past ala slavery or the Holocasut then you are somehow immune from criticism is 100% codswallop and destructive...

the truth is never a perjorative

134 posted on 09/19/2009 2:02:17 AM PDT by wardaddy (Obama, you suck Bro and we are kicking your butt for now anyhow)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 129 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar

Kristol was an amazing man with an amazing intellect. So is his wife. They both have an intense and extensive history in the movement from classic liberalism (which bears no resemblance to what modern America refers to as “liberals”) to conservatism.

RIP, good man.


135 posted on 09/19/2009 3:27:19 AM PDT by bustinchops (Teddy ("The Hiccup") Kennedy - the original water-boarder)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bryanw92
As a left/liberal I was heavily influenced by the neo-cons after 9/11 which kind of woke me up to reality. But it was only a half way stage. It allowed me to visit sites like FR and get respect for real conservatism.

So, the man done fine by me and in general the neo-cons provoked debate on both sides of the political spectrum.

Anyway RIP to someone who was willing to think.

136 posted on 09/19/2009 5:59:40 AM PDT by vimto (To do the right thing you don't have to be intelligent - you have to be brave (Sasz))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: vimto
Here's my bottom line: anybody who is in favor of increased government power and/or increased government social-welfare spending, is not a conservative to me, "neo" or otherwise.

I prefer to think of myself as a "small-l" libertarian, who believes that the proper role of government is to provide a safe and orderly environment for people to live, work, and raise a family, provide a venue to settle disputes, and otherwise stay out of people's hair.

137 posted on 09/19/2009 9:18:36 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Public healthcare looks like it will work as well as public housing did.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 136 | View Replies]

To: JHBowden
Libertarians are a lot like socialists — they think man is born good, and institutions corrupt him. They only differ on the boogeyman— the socialists think it is the corporations, while libertarians blame the state. Conservatives, both paleo and neo, realize that man is born evil, and institutions are our only hope to make him halfway good.

You seem to think all people are the same. I think that there is a spectrum, with some people reasonably good (i.e. of sufficiently good character that they will behave honestly even when nobody is looking), some people are criminal, and those in the middle will be reasonably good, but prone to cheat around the edges.

The legitimate purpose of the State is to punish violence and dishonesty, but not to enforce charity.

Additionally, for "institutions" to be effective in "making him halfway good", the institutions need to be staffed by good people. Experience shows that institutions with power over peoples lives tend to attract people who WANT power over others, and not for good reasons. As long as we do not have angels to staff the State, it is good to limit the State's power to do harm.

138 posted on 09/19/2009 9:27:51 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Public healthcare looks like it will work as well as public housing did.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies]

To: JHBowden; PapaBear3625
The most capitalist areas of the country coincidentally have the most socialist voters

Interesting but that has more to do with geography and proximity to European and Asian immigration disembarkation points or just junctions of trade than it does the peoples.

I have enjoyed both your posts here. From raising 5 kids and observing the world for 52 years and studying classical humanities it is my opinion we are born quite self centered though not evil. There is good in most of us and needs cultivating.

I think government if here to serve us and create collective security and in a theoretical sense to promote what is innate in all of us to further the rights in life the Founders wrote about. Of course that is an open definition.

Who nails the nature of man....Christ. Hobbes and Socrates after that.

139 posted on 09/19/2009 10:33:49 AM PDT by wardaddy (Obama, you suck Bro and we are kicking your butt for now anyhow)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies]

To: JHBowden

JH Bowden.
Right you are!

I would add to your list:

A foreign policy that suits America’s pro-growth economy.


140 posted on 09/19/2009 10:44:22 AM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160 ... 181-187 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson