Why Freedom

The eloquent champion of unrestricted liberty as the first and fundamental plank of conservatism answers the provocative piece of Brent Bozell

In reply to Brent Bozell’s article, “Freedom or Virtue?” (Sept. 11), I should like first to plead innocent to his friendly indictment that I have “labored earnestly in recent years to promote and justify modern American conservatism as a ‘fusion’ of the libertarian and traditionalist points of view.” Rather I (and others with whom I share a common outlook—he mentions Stanton Evans by name) have been attempting something very different from an ideological—and eclectic—effort to create a position abstractly “fusing” two other positions. What I have been attempting to do is to help articulate in theoretical and practical terms the instinctive consensus of the contemporary American conservative movement—a movement which is inspired by no ideological construct, but by devotion to the fundamental understanding of the men who made Western civilization and the American republic.

FS

About the Author

Frank S. Meyer

Frank S. Meyer was a senior editor of National Review.

Featured Tags

The eloquent champion of unrestricted liberty as the first and fundamental plank of conservatism answers the provocative piece of Brent Bozell

In reply to Brent Bozell’s article, “Freedom or Virtue?” (Sept. 11), I should like first to plead innocent to his friendly indictment that I have “labored earnestly in recent years to promote and justify modern American conservatism as a ‘fusion’ of the libertarian and traditionalist points of view.” Rather I (and others with whom I share a common outlook—he mentions Stanton Evans by name) have been attempting something very different from an ideological—and eclectic—effort to create a position abstractly “fusing” two other positions. What I have been attempting to do is to help articulate in theoretical and practical terms the instinctive consensus of the contemporary American conservative movement—a movement which is inspired by no ideological construct, but by devotion to the fundamental understanding of the men who made Western civilization and the American republic.