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TechnoratiThroughout the book there is a wealth of information on conservative economists and free market advocates. He also highlights writers like George Gilder who critiqued Hayek and Milton Friedman by noting “their arguments for capitalism were too utilitarian and lacked inspiration.”
The chapter on religion and American conservatism is very important for understanding arguments for limited government that are grounded in faith. Especially informative are arguments put forth by the economist Wilhelm Roepke and Peter Viereck. Viereck authored Conservatism Revisited: The Revolt against Revolt. Regnery notes, “Liberalism, Viereck thought, held a naive belief in the basic goodness of man, which was inadequate to defend against the evil of tyranny. The alternative, according to Viereck, was a conservatism based on Christianity. Conservatism, he concluded, should be the political secularization of the doctrine of original sin.”
Upstream is a valuable book for those who are seeking to learn more about the conservative movement and American politics in general. Regnery clearly explains how a small and fractured movement evolved into a serious and powerful force on the political stage. He elaborates on how the Republican Party apparatus is not by itself committed to conservatism. The goal of the party is to elect and ensure power for the party.
Perhaps most importantly, he understands the original American conservatives were the Founding Fathers. Regnery simply says, “The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were based on the premise that government was the great threat to freedom, and the purpose of a constitution was to limit the power of government.”
Ray Nothstine is associate editor at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich.
