Replies

Thanks for commenting here. Please do look into the writings of Meyer. He was originally a Communist, and after some soul-searching in the 1940s, he became an influential leader of the emerging conservative movement. George Nash, in The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945, calls Meyer "an ardent, argumentative libertarian, as well as one of the formative personal influences on the conservative revial," while others call him a "fusionist," someone who tried to reconcile the libertarian and traditionist schools of conservatism. But one of the best reflections on Meyer's contribution comes from Morton Blackwell, founder of the Leadership Institute. He commented on "In Defense of Freedom" in his essay, Read to Lead. Meyer's basic thesis, according to Blackwell, was that "if the conservative movement was going to succeed, adherents of both lines of thought, natural allies on most issues, must be fused together. Supporters of a conservative economic policy, he taught, couldn't expect their policies to be enacted without the backing of social-issue conservatives. And it was equally true, he continued, that social-issue conservatives couldn't expect their policies to be enacted unless they allied with economic conservatives. The presidential elections of 1980, 1984 and 1988, as well as the congressional elections of 1994 and 1996, were manifestations of the wisdom of Frank Meyer."

Another great quote by Meyer comes from his 1964 essay "Freedom, Tradition, Conservatism."
"But both extremes (of traditionalism and libertarianism) are self-defeating: truth withers when freedom dies, however righteous the authority that kills it; and free individualism uninformed by moral value rots at its core and soon brings about conditions that pave the way for surrender to tyranny."

I admire your well-thought comments. The "essay" describing your train of thought on your profile page seems to back up my thought that you are a well-trained thinker. I agree with you that the all the name-calling on FR needs to stop. It is very immature. It can be a very anti-intellectual environment on here at times.

If you want to read more about the "tension" between liberty and tradition, a good book (also printed by ISI) is "Freedom and Virtue: The Conservative/Libertarian Debate," edited by George W. Carey. It includes essays by Meyer, and commentary by Murray Rothbard on Meyer's ideology.

"But both extremes (of traditionalism and libertarianism) are self-defeating: truth withers when freedom dies, however righteous the authority that kills it; and free individualism uninformed by moral value rots at its core and soon brings about conditions that pave the way for surrender to tyranny."

Thank you for your reply. I feel much the same as Mr. Meyer when he said conservatives and libertarians need each other.

> George Nash . . . calls Meyer "an ardent, argumentative libertarian, as well as one of the formative personal influences on the conservative revial," while others call him a "fusionist," someone who tried to reconcile the libertarian and traditionist schools of conservatism.

He was both! Frank's argumentativeness was legendary. He even argued amiably on his deathbed with his priest-confessor -- to the considerable amusement of his friends.

Fusionism was uniquely Frank's. The whole movement, so to speak, debated libertarianism vs. traditionalism. For the first five or ten years after Goldwater, the debates were often rancorous. However, Frank, the libertarian, transcended his own views (and his own feisty style) to find common ground. Traditionalist Russell Kirk, in contrast, made no effort to reconcile the two views and never had patience for libertarians. (He and Frank weren't on speaking terms, though both were columnists for National Review.)

If it's of any interest, George Nash, Morton Blackwell and George Carey have all had distinguished careers and are all still active.