More Postrel

Here's Virginia wondering in September 1997 about conservatives. Excerpt:

Indeed, the pessimism of this weekend's international congress reflects the fear that Hayek attributed to conservatives. So does Messrs. Kristol and Brooks's proposed governing doctrine, which is best understood as William James's "moral equivalent of war"—a desire to engineer a purpose for Americans who seem too dangerously decadent to be left to their own devices.



But it's one thing to pursue genuine national interests through foreign policy, quite another to cook up schemes just to give government something to do and the American people something to rally around. Harking back to the progressivism of Theodore Roosevelt and New Republic co-founder Herbert Croly, Messrs. Kristol and Brooks seek the promise of American life in collective pursuits directed from Washington according to their own cultural prejudices.

See also: compassionate conservatism. Like I said, I jibe with the President on a lot of those cultural prejudices. But I don't like Big Government Conservatism any more than I like Big Government Liberalism, because they have the same prefix. I will reiterate: the federal government of the United States is designed to guard the coasts, ensure an honest money supply, and prevent the states from breaking apart. Anything else runs the risk of either Ted Kennedy or Tom DeLay (pick your poison) telling you what you want done with your life.