REVOLUTIONARIES: TOM WOLFE on how the Manhattan Institute changed New York City and America

New York Post ^ | January 30, 2003 | TOM WOLFE

[nickcarraway]

January 30, 2003 -- IN the fall of 1982 an obscure, 39-year-old, out-of-work political scientist named Charles Murray received a $30,000 grant from a mouthful calling itself the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. The "institute," barely four years old - this month marks its 25th anniversary - consisted of half a dozen souls crammed into an office dingier than a movie private eye's, seven flights up in a sorry, use-the-stairs, the-elevator's-broken building on West 40th Street. For his $30,000, Murray was supposed to do a book on the done-to-death topic of welfare policy. On the face of it, the whole project looked dim and dimmer, not to mention dull and duller. But William Hammett, head man in the little hutch on West 40th, had read an article by Murray in a policy-wonk journal and heard him speak at a forum on "the underclass" and knew that certain information Murray had uncovered was dynamite.

[David Isaac]

This is where the battle could be one, the battlefield of ideas. I have always felt that if, side by side, you present conservative ideas and liberal ideas, on the same subject(s), the former would be far the most convincing. It is as plain as the difference between being right and feeling good about yourself.

[Leisler]

Not from conservatives. Near neigh all the ideas of the last thirty years have come from libertarians. "...Fisher withdrew and left things in the hands of a tall, "movie-star handsome," young (34) libertarian: William Hammett, soon to be Charles Murray's discoverer..." The libertarians have provided the ideological radicalness. If it was up to the conservatives we'd still be talking about how Taft not getting elected was the fault.

[F-117A]

Bump!!!

[fporretto]

I am reminded of something I read in one of Anthony Flew's books. When he was pondering how to make an impact in the world of public policy, a friend told him that he'd maximize his chances by sticking to theory and remaining aloof from the contest for political power. Flew was reluctant to accept the advice at first, but thirty years of engagement convinced him that his friend was right.

The Manhattan Institute appears to convey the same lesson.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

[happygrl]

Bookmarked.

[gaspar]

It's nice to have ideas, and even better to have good ideas. That being said, it is even nicer to have someone to implement those ideas, and therein lies the rub for Libertarians. They are lousy politicians who usually only project one idea, the legalization of drugs.

[Capt. Jake]

bttt

[Leisler]

The reason conservatives lost so much of our liberties, and so much was wasted the last 100 yrs is because they had no ideas. You can't get somewhere without a map. No ideas, no movement.

[gaspar]

The Conservative movement began with the election of JFK in 1960. With Nixon seemingly lost in the wilderness there was time to shape the thinking of Americans. Barry Goldwater started the process and Ronald Reagan provided the Conservatives their first victory in 1980. Twenty-two years is not much for a movement, but it has still managed to expunge the old-guard of a Republican party that was bereft of ideas. The Conservative movement knows where it wants to go, but it still has to overcome the drag of a lot of useless baggage -- Snow, Specter, McCain, etc.

[Leisler]

bump!