He correctly predicted the world we live in today.
He believed strongly in Civil Rights, but of the MLK content of one's character variety.
He thought that it should never have been a Federal program forced down the throats at gunpoint issue.
He predicted correctly that it would lead to Affirmative Action, quotas, set-asides, etc, that would forever taint true black American achievements.
He truly believed in individual rights, not "group rights" which he warned against.
He KNEW it would eventually tear Americans apart.
The latter part of the book was focused on the Soviet Union and communism, and this is the only part of the book that hasn't aged well.
He couldn't conceive of a collapse of the Soviet Union, but who in 1964 could have seen that coming?
I'd say that the book should be required reading.
Changed my thinking completely, and he does it in a very accessible way.
It can be read online at Hathi Trust: The conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater.
Actually, the chapters on the USSR are very relevant for today, since they apply instead to Red China, the EU and Iran in equal measures.