Neoconservative

From Conservapedia

A neoconservative (colloquially, neocon) is a former liberal who calls himself a conservative, or a former conservative who caters to political views of the media. Neoconservatives favor globalism, a bigger government, and so-called "free trade"; neocons downplay religious values and often disagree with conservatives on key social issues like abortion and homosexuality. Neoconservatives oppose appointing Supreme Court Justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Neoconservatives place their highest domestic priority on opposing affirmative action while silently opposing social conservatives on moral issues. On foreign policy, neoconservatives believe that democracy can and should be installed by the United States around the world, even in Muslim countries such as Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Neocons tend to be atheistic while conservatives tend to be religious. On the opposite end of the conservative movement from neoconservatism, is paleoconservatism.

In an essay entitled "The Neoconservative Persuasion," neocon founder Irving Kristol argued for a Big Government and said that neoconservatives favor the Roosevelts rather than conservative heroes of Calvin Coolidge and Barry Goldwater.^[1]

Neoconservatives were instrumental in persuading Republican Fred Thompson to run for president in 2008, once Rudy Giuliani's candidacy appeared unlikely to succeed.^[2] Thompson quickly pulled out of the race after finishing no better than third in the initial state primaries.

Neoconservatives are frequently presented by the media as "conservatives" rather than as the "neoconservatives" that they are.^{[Citation Needed]} Perhaps due to their influence with the media, neoconservatives dominated the administration of President George W. Bush, and are considered to be responsible for initiating the Iraq War. Neoconservatives also favor military action against Iran.

A cynical view of neoconservatives is they lack any chance for power within the Democratic Party or among liberals, who have many experienced, educated influence-seekers. Neoconservatives have an easier time reaching powerful positions by coming over to the Republican Party, much as other former Democrats (e.g. Michael Bloomberg) became Republicans to advance their personal ambition.

1 Origin
2 Religion
3 Publications
4 Social Issues
5 Influence
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External Links

Origin

Irving Kristol was dubbed by many as "the Godfather" of Neo-conservatism

Neo-conservatism was developed by a group of intellectuals graduated from the City College of New York in the late 1930's, a group that includes Irving Kristol, Daniel Bell and Nathan Glazer.^[3] Many of this group came to despise the counterculture of the 1960's and what they felt was a growing "anti-Americanism" among many baby boomers. And during the Cold War era, many of them came to realize the evil of the Stalinist regime.^[4] Kristol described a neoconservative as a "liberal mugged by reality". The development of neo-conservatism was strongly influenced by the work of German philosopher Leo Strauss and Marxist theorist Leon Trotsky. Irving Kristol himself was once a member of the 4th international.

Religion

The neoconservative movement is atheistic and opposed to religious conservatives on most moral issues (see below). The neoconservative movement rarely, if ever, bases its goals or arguments on religious principles.

Neoconservatives also tend to minimize or overlook the significance of religious beliefs in conflicts and policies, as in advocating the installation of democracy in Muslim countries with little regard for Islamic beliefs and practices.

Neoconservatives hold an idealistic belief in social progress and the universality of human rights, coupled with anti-Communism. They hold the view that there is a universal desire to live in a technologically advanced and prosperous society and liberal democracy is one of the byproducts of such modernization.

Publications

The leading publications of neoconservatives are Commentary, National Review, and The Weekly Standard. Many Washington, D.C. think tanks, such as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Project For New American Century (PNAC), Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) and Henry Jackson Society are now dominated by neoconservatives.

Social Issues

Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, was a prominent architect of the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration known as the Bush Doctrine

Neoconservatives often take libertarian positions on social issues, and are unlikely to agree with religious conservatives on issues like abortion, prayer in school and same-sex marriage. Neoconservatives differ from libertarians in that neoconservatives tend to support Big government policies to further their objectives, and to support erosion of American liberty by Patriot act and other measures such as the implementation of federal gun control.

Despite not being socially conservative at all, neoconservatives often describe themselves as "conservative". William Kristol, a leading neoconservative, described himself as the "token conservative" when he taught at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.^[5]

In anticipation of vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court, the neoconservatives urged the selection of Michael McConnell, a libertarian-leaning jurist, and J. Michael Luttig, who declared Roe v. Wade to be "super-stare decisis"^[6] and later left the judiciary to become general counsel of Boeing.^[7] Both were passed over in filling the vacancies with religious conservatives.

Influence

Neoconservatives are small in number but dominate television talk shows, magazines, Washington-based think tanks, and advisory positions in Republican Administrations. Some prominent neoconservatives are William Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, Lewis Libby, David Horowitz, Norman Podhoretz, Daniel Pipes, Charles Krauthammer, Richard Perle, Robert Kagan, Christopher Hitchens, Willmoore Kendall, Stephen Schwartz, Elliott Abrams and Carl Gershman. Some critics have argued that the neoconservative concept of "global democratic revolution" was derived from the Trotskyist Fourth International's "vision of permanent revolution".^[8] Stephen Schwartz said that "those who are fighting for global democracy should view Leon Trotsky as a worthy forerunner" and would prefer that "neocons" be called "Trotskycons".^[9]