American conservatism & the problem of populism

• Published in: The New Criterion 2016-09, Vol.35 (1), p.4
• Main Author: Nash, George H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Populism
• ISSN: 0734-0222; 2163-6265

[...]there appeared in the 1940s and 1950s, at the onset of the Cold War, a militant, evangelistic anticommunism, shaped by a number of ex-Communists and other ex-radicals of the 1930s, including the iconic Whittaker Chambers. In the 1950s and early 1960s the number of publicly active, self-identified conservative intellectuals in the United States was minuscule: perhaps a few dozen at most. Since 1980 prosperity has come to conservatism, and with it a multitude of niche markets and specialization on a thousand fronts. [...]as the post-Cold War epoch settled in during the Nineties and beyond, they were not alone among conservatives in searching for new sources of unity-a new fusionism, as it were, for a new era. [...]the first term of President William Clinton saw the rise of the "Leave us Alone" coalition, united in its detestation of intrusive government in the form of higher taxes, Hillary Clinton's health care plan, and gun control. According to a report by the Bradley Project on America's National Identity in 2008, "America is facing an identity crisis," brought on in part by the failure of the country's education system to impart an adequate knowledge of "our history and founding ideals" to the next generation.