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Feb. 5th, 2013 17:16Grover Norquist, Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives. William Morrow, 2008.
"The new political movement that now controls much of the Republican party is one of Americans who simply wish to be left alone by the government. They are not asking the government for others' money, time, or attention. Rather, they want to be free to own a gun, homeschool their children, pray, invest their money, and control their own destiny." (Inside front jacket flap.)
This is not entirely accurate. They want less regulation and fewer restrictions for themselves, yes. They also want more regulation and more restrictions for Those Others.
Or perhaps I missed the chapters in which Norquist advocates legalizing same-sex marriage and marijuana. And the ones in which he supports the right not to pray in public and the right to join unions.
(Yes, I know some purveyors of processed process liberalism product are equally inconsistent.)
If Norquist were to follow the implications of his principles, he would become a libertarian or an anarcho-capitalist. And, of course, he would lose his customers.
This book is a useful introduction to one strain of US conservatism. Reading it, keep in mind that there are better kinds of conservatism.
"The new political movement that now controls much of the Republican party is one of Americans who simply wish to be left alone by the government. They are not asking the government for others' money, time, or attention. Rather, they want to be free to own a gun, homeschool their children, pray, invest their money, and control their own destiny." (Inside front jacket flap.)
This is not entirely accurate. They want less regulation and fewer restrictions for themselves, yes. They also want more regulation and more restrictions for Those Others.
Or perhaps I missed the chapters in which Norquist advocates legalizing same-sex marriage and marijuana. And the ones in which he supports the right not to pray in public and the right to join unions.
(Yes, I know some purveyors of processed process liberalism product are equally inconsistent.)
If Norquist were to follow the implications of his principles, he would become a libertarian or an anarcho-capitalist. And, of course, he would lose his customers.
This book is a useful introduction to one strain of US conservatism. Reading it, keep in mind that there are better kinds of conservatism.