Arthur Brooks’ book “The Conservative Heart – How to Build a Fairer, Happier and More Prosperous America” represents a challenge to the established view of the Conservatives and Republicans regarding America’s social issues. We are caught between the perceptions of two disparate political choices: largess without compassion versus dollar value pragmatism. While Democrats/Progressives have always provided this ongoing narrative of the Party who are the champions of the underprivileged; this message effectively collapsed in the 2016 elections. The Progressive message was now understood as “identity politics” not the defenders of the underdog as promised. However, Conservatives who can provide the best solutions to poverty were tagged with
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Brooks had only one mention of Dr. Kirk in the entire book; if he had incorporated Kirk’s canons of what defines the modern Conservative movement, it would have carried his messaging even more clearly. These values represent a traditional Conservative way of thinking and Kirk strongly reinforced those ideals into his writings. The four canons that I see that should have been applied throughout this book are: a belief in a transcendent order ; a conviction that society requires orders and classes that emphasize "natural" distinctions ; belief that property and freedom are closely linked; and a faith in custom, convention, and prescription. I believe that these four canons effectively measure the worth of a man. These values are learned and passed down through each generation. However, with President Johnson’s signing into the law the various provisions on the “War on Poverty”, the law of unintended consequences disassembled the family unit for a welfare check. Instead of a bonded family unit; we now have single mothers raising basically “feral” children. It has been validated that the traditional family units (working parent(s) with children) who take an active interest in their children’s education and with regular religious attendance avoids generational poverty. While Brooks, details the fall in Church attendance (both Europe and America), it comes back to Russell Kirk’s first
Brooks had only one mention of Dr. Kirk in the entire book; if he had incorporated Kirk’s canons of what defines the modern Conservative movement, it would have carried his messaging even more clearly. These values represent a traditional Conservative way of thinking and Kirk strongly reinforced those ideals into his writings. The four canons that I see that should have been applied throughout this book are: a belief in a transcendent order ; a conviction that society requires orders and classes that emphasize "natural" distinctions ; belief that property and freedom are closely linked; and a faith in custom, convention, and prescription. I believe that these four canons effectively measure the worth of a man. These values are learned and passed down through each generation. However, with President Johnson’s signing into the law the various provisions on the “War on Poverty”, the law of unintended consequences disassembled the family unit for a welfare check. Instead of a bonded family unit; we now have single mothers raising basically “feral” children. It has been validated that the traditional family units (working parent(s) with children) who take an active interest in their children’s education and with regular religious attendance avoids generational poverty. While Brooks, details the fall in Church attendance (both Europe and America), it comes back to Russell Kirk’s first