Realignment & Conservatism: What Does It Mean?

The American conservative movement has never really impressed deep political thinkers, even its own. The frustration was evident almost from the beginning of this magazine. Russell Kirk seemed slightly dissatisfied with his own Anglophone genealogy of “conservatism.” James Burnham, the Communist turned anti-Communist, developed modern Machiavellian theories of power, but applying them to the real world often ended with perverse results. Frank Meyer occasionally seemed as unsatisfied with his “fusion” of traditionalist and libertarian impulses into a conservative system, as all the critics of fusionism were.

Now, this shouldn’t be surprising. In history, it is hard to find thinking people of long life who end up altogether happy with what has been wrought by their former friends and colleagues. The only people who end up satisfied with political movements — Left or Right — are profiteers, chancers, and apparatchiks. Because they only expected a little money or fame, not the deepest concord between their convictions and the state of our fallen world.

About the Author

Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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The American conservative movement has never really impressed deep political thinkers, even its own. The frustration was evident almost from the beginning of this magazine. Russell Kirk seemed slightly dissatisfied with his own Anglophone genealogy of “conservatism.” James Burnham, the Communist turned anti-Communist, developed modern Machiavellian theories of power, but applying them to the real world often ended with perverse results. Frank Meyer occasionally seemed as unsatisfied with his “fusion” of traditionalist and libertarian impulses into a conservative system, as all the critics of fusionism were.

Now, this shouldn’t be surprising. In history, it is hard to find thinking people of long life who end up altogether happy with what has been wrought by their former friends and colleagues. The only people who end up satisfied with political movements — Left or Right — are profiteers, chancers, and apparatchiks. Because they only expected a little money or fame, not the deepest concord between their convictions and the state of our fallen world.