Scan barcode
christianholub's review against another edition
4.0
First book of 2018 down the hatch! I've been hearing about this book for awhile, but I'm glad I waited until the new edition came out, incorporating the rise of President Trump into Robin's theory of conservatism. I gotta say, Robin's explanation (that conservative politics always arise out of a counter-revolutionary impulse, and borrow left-wing tactics and ideals in order to reconstruct the hierarchy that liberation movements seek to overthrow) is pretty convincing, especially here amidst the Trump era. For anyone who bemoans the lack of "good Republicans" or "sensible conservatives," I highly recommend reading this. It'll really help you understand the world around us.
sirgrumpsalot's review against another edition
3.0
It was entertaining, but not the clearest style of writing. Even though the chapter on Ayn Rand was very entertaining, I could not quite distinguish the line between criticism and satire. A good book overall, but I was expecting much more from it
tittypete's review against another edition
4.0
Conservatism is the reaction certain people have to a perceived loss of power. Former slave owners, opponents of civil rights and women’s lib. They all feel threatened. It started with the french revolution. English power dudes were scared their wage slaves and regular folk might start requesting the same sort of ‘fixes’ they were making in France. This evolved into playing the victim where they started saying their ‘values’ and ‘way of life’ were under attack. This book contends that conservatism has never been and ethos but just a pining for the old ways of the elite. It ends with a brief analysis of the Trump phenomenon. Yep. He was an idiot and a fraud but the surprise to many may be that this is nothing new. These are the former masters trying to sell the former serfs on how awesome the good old days were for ‘them’. Everything is a scam. Buy a gun, stock up on food and get ready to bite people.
miikka's review against another edition
3.0
The book takes a look at the conservative ideology, mostly in the context of the US. It defines conservatism as the politics of those who are about to lose power (this is where the term reactionary comes from). It's a provocative, even blunt view, but I found it helpful for understanding how some of the right wing is thinking.
nickjagged's review against another edition
3.0
Lower review since I'm not as tied in to the line of argument or reasoning in this book as I feel would allow me to maximally benefit from it. That's not saying that it would necessarily be better if it were explicated further within though, just that the conceptualization of conservativism is strikingly different from the synthesis I've put together through my reading up to this point. The strongest aspect is the best description I've yet read of how the right uses left jargon (to co-opt not their aims but the sentiment).
Tldr: not as coherent as "Listen, Liberal" by Thomas Frank, though contains a glimmer of an equally cogent historical counternarrative.
Tldr: not as coherent as "Listen, Liberal" by Thomas Frank, though contains a glimmer of an equally cogent historical counternarrative.