The voices of conventional wisdom are telling us once again that the Right should reinvent itself, or rather return to its true principles, by abandoning the social issues. Dwight Eisenhower and Barry Goldwater got along without them, so why can’t we do the same today? Instead of worrying about how people live their lives, we should concentrate on trimming government and … [Read More]

Contemporary liberalism claims open-ended tolerance as its guiding principle. The claim is an odd one, since every social order accepts some patterns of conduct but not others. Otherwise it would not be a social order at all. It should not be surprising that on examination the claim turns out to be false. In theory, of course, values can be freely chosen … [Read More]

Takimag contributors have recently batted around some thoughts on the “conservative canon” and its continuing usefulness. The net result of the discussion, I think, is that the conservative canon isn’t really a canon. It’s more a suggested reading list. If you think political modernity is a problem, it makes sense to read those who have thought the same, even though they … [Read More]

Austin Bramwell tells us the tax code favors the rich at the expense of everyone else. As an argument he gives some examples that very likely loom large in his estate planning practice. Anecdote and instance are rhetorically effective, but their moral depends on how the story is told. More particularly, a common problem with righteous complaints about special tax benefits … [Read More]