Wednesday, April 05, 2006
The Decline and Rise of Russell Kirk
Russell Kirk was one of the great political thinkers of the 20th century. He is seldom mentioned these days. A conservative who saw limits to the free-market and American imperialism as good things just is not in vogue.
The real problem his work presents is not placed upon his new readers. It is a problem that faces those who have already read his work. Kirk knew who the neoconservatives were 20 years ago and saw that their policies would trap us in impossible wars for democracy.
The problem is this: there is no excuse. Those of us who read Kirk 10 years ago should have known what was happening. We should have seen the current quagmire for what it is. At the moment of crisis we were enthralled by the dreams of freedom. So we failed Kirk and ourselves.
