Winter, 1981
V o l . 3 No. 1
Do Not Rest at D a w n of Victory, Speakers Warn O n the eve of the greatest electoral victory ever for A m e r i c a n conservatives, a Foundation s y m p o s i u m considered the contribution of the conservative intellectual movement to that impending t r i u m p h . Titled " T h e Conservative Movement S i n c e 1945", the meeting w a s held at the Mayflower Hotel in W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . on September 27th to coincide with the 20th anniversary celebration of Y o u n g A m e r i c a n s for F r e e d o m . T h e individuals presenting lectures were D r . R u s s e l l K i r k , w h o authored The Conservative Mind and w h o w a s involved in the founding of several of the first post-war conservative organizations; Dr. George N a s h , author of The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945; and J a m e s C . Roberts, author of The Conservative Decade a n d president of the American Studies C e n t e r . // we fail, where else in the modern world will powers of resistance and recuperation be discovered? D r . K i r k ' s lecture w a s titled " C o n servatives, T h e n and N o w . " In his talk he traced the conservative movement from its modest beginnings as a s m a l l group of free enterprise, antic o m m u n i s t intellectuals w h o were largely ignored by both political parties a s well a s by the m e d i a and the a c a d e m y . B u t it w a s a robust group that gradually forced its w a y into publication a n d into the public consciousness. A c c o r d i n g to K i r k , it requires at least three decades for a body of c o n -
S t u d e n t p a r t i c i p a n t s c a m e f r o m n i n e Eastern states.
victions to be expressed, discussed, and at last incorporated into public policy. If that is the c a s e , then the efforts of the post-war conservative intellectuals h a v e borne fruit right on schedule in the elections of 1980. K i r k ended his presentation on a hopeful, but cautious note. H e s a i d , " I f we fail, where else in the modern world will powers of resistance and recuperation be discovered? . . .Life is worth living, the conservative declares. We are not going to m a r c h to Zion; yet we m a y s u c c e e d in planting s o m e trees in the Waste L a n d " . . . .political victories will achieve little unless the intellectual foundations are laid and the intellectual climate of opinion is receptive.
R e a s s e s s i n g the thesis of his book. D r . George N a s h gave a talk titled.
" T h e Conservative Intellectual Movement in A m e r i c a , A R e a p p r a i s a l . " In his lecture D r . N a s h extolled the growth of conservative organizations and publications—not only since 1945 —but in merely the five years since the publication of his book surveying the movement. " I t is now possible", he s a i d , "for a serious student of A m e r i c a n culture and public affairs to devote every w a k i n g minute, if he w i s h e d , to the writing of conservative scholars." N a s h expressed pleasure at the growth of the movement and at the possibly sweeping victory in the then forthcoming elections. B u t he noted that while there is a n obvious general trend toward c o n s e r v a t i s m , there are certain sectors of the society that rem a i n firmly in the liberal c a m p . T h e s e sectors are the a c a d e m i c c o m D O N O T REST continued on page 5