LIBERAL
SHOCK
The
Conservative Comeback
William Dawes (Editor)
Catherine Priestley and Michael Warren Davis (Assistant Editors)
Foreword by Peter Hitchens
Paperback,
404 pages
October
2019, $39.95
ISBN 9781925826616
Despite
surprising electoral wins, conservatism as we know it is dying. In fact, it may
be dead already.
The
election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States, the Brexit
referendum in the United Kingdom, and the rise of nationalist parties in Europe, have
left the political establishment in tatters. After fifty years of unquestioned
dominance, the right’s “Cold War consensus” – social conservatism uncomfortably
matched with libertarian economics – has been decimated across the West. Even
in Australia, when Scott Morrison was asked, “When did the Liberal Party stop
believing in free markets?” he replied simply: “I don’t see things in such
terms.”
Politicians
and pundits are bitterly divided. Some embrace the new nationalist regimes as
the best defence against left-wing globalism. Others urge a return to the
Cold-War conservatism of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and John Howard.
But
another path is available to us.
This
collection aims to restore conservatism as it existed before the Cold War – that
is, before traditionalists entered into a disastrous alliance with classical
liberals and libertarians; before those with a humble appreciation for society
got mixed up with ideology.
Timely
perspectives on the present crisis draw from the timeless wisdom of the Western
canon. The authors decry radical individualism in favour of strong communities.
They call for a new settlement for the Australian Liberal
Party, rejecting the failed fusion of Edmund Burke & J.S. Mill. They query the rhetoric of free-market capitalism
for the sake of the common good. And they reject our prevailing moral anarchy
in the name of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Rarely
have the ingredients for a conservative
comeback been laid out so clearly.
Chapters Include:
Foreword: A Dangerous Idea
-- Peter Hitchens
Introduction -- William Dawes
The Choice That Ends All Choice -- Catherine Priestley
The New Smog -- David Sergeant
Empire of Avarice -- Michael Warren Davis
Borrowed Wombs -- Bill O’Chee
Romance and Socialism in J. S. Mill -- Helen Andrews
Liberty and Licence -- Damien Freeman
Liberty, Liberals, and the Gay Wedding Cake -- Salvatore Babones
De Gaulle and the French Right -- Nathan Pinkoski
‘Free Market’ Myths -- Adam Creighton
The Real Adam Smith -- Paul Sagar
Beauty & The West -- James Matthew Wilson
The Religion of Humanity -- Daniel Mahoney
The Merits of Campion College -- Dyson Heydon
Dumb and Dumber -- Blaise Joseph
A Legislator’s Journey -- Nick Minchin
Family: The Libertarian Blindspot -- John Anderson
Don’t Mention the War -- Tony Abbott
The Revivalist -- Oliver JJ Lane
Democracy, Populism, and Liberalism -- Roger Kimball
Traditionalist Foreign Policy -- Daniel McCarthy
Afterword -- Catherine Priestley
Cover art and illustrations by Jeremy Leasor
About the Editor
William Dawes is a lawyer in Sydney. He has written
for The Spectator | Australia, The Daily Telegraph,
and The Australian.
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