The Conscience of a Conservative

Last week I completed reading The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater. This book lays out and applies principles of a limited government that puts maximizing freedom as its goal.

Even though the book was written over 50 years ago (in 1960), a lot of it is as relevant as if it were just written. The section on the Soviet Union might be dated, but the comments about America supporting people fighting for freedom from their governments' oppressive regimes is very timely.

On Education
As an example of the book's reasoning, I will summarize one of the chapters. Goldwater makes the case why there should be no federal involvement in education. He prefaces his comments by saying he thinks the problems in education involve quality and are not simply fixed by spending money. He then concedes that if the problem with education is quantitative, his main objections are:

1. Federal intervention in education is unconstitutional.


2. The need for federal funds has not been demonstrated. It can be asked, does State X need more educational facilities? If yes, the next question is does State X need educational facilities that are beyond the reach of its finical means? States have wealth, but some of them chose to spend it on other priorities.


3. Federal aid promotes the idea that federal money is "free" money and gives people a distorted picture of the cost of education. The federal government only distributes money that it originally taxed from people, minus the Washington brokerage fee.


4. Federal aid to education inevitably means federal control of education.

These arguments were all made before the Department of Education became its own cabinet level organization. I agree with Goldwater's thinking; federal involvement in education should be abolished.

Other Topics
There is also a chapter devoted to "Freedom for the Farmer." Goldwater attacks farm subsidies and how the government unreasonably controls what farmers can and cannot grow. I was reminded of the rules addressed in the farm section of Parliament of Whores and the confusion the federal government has about the programs it runs.

Other topics are covered, but it would be better if you checked out the book instead of me summarizing everything. The book is short, easy to read, and to the point. If you want to know why people vote for conservative politicians, some answers can be found in The Conscience of a Conservative.