Leo Strauss and David Brock: Dangerous Reading

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

Been reading the essay on Leo Strauss and his influences/relevance in the latest Harpers, and also have started on David Brocks "Reublican Noise Machine".

Both are scary and somewhat depressing. Brock gives a good history of the rise of the right, but maybe it could have been put together better (this stuff seem amenable to flowcharting and graphics)....still there is ALOT of money behing all this, and it goes way back (and Goldwater wasnt as "ok" as is sometimes said ).

The Strauss article illustrates what an elitist philiosophy has supposedly influenced policymakers. One good thing about this article is that it nominates Isiah Berlin as an opponent or counter to Strauss. Im familiar with Berlin from his wriing on "the Hedgehog and the Fox", but I should explore his political writings more.

Anyway, combined, this reading is dangerous as it could be seen to be demoralizing...its almost, via Brock, you see the grander, overaching philosphical themes of Strauss (or themes similar or congruent to Strauss) working themselves out on hte ground in real politics.

[kikiek]

1. Great website called Yuricareport.com read the story

The Despoiling of America. It is like 51 pages, but last 15 are references. It is an amazing report and well worth the time if you haven't seen it yet. I have passed it on to many people and always hear the same thing. This is one frightening admin we have in . office. It mentions that many in it studied under Strauss, and talks about Machivelli. I ended up buying Machivell's book "The Prince" to see what this admin is about. We are in deep trouble.

[annak110]

2. Can you provide a link?

I'd like to see this, I've been researching corporatists (rightwing nuts, fascists) for many years.

[salvorhardin]

4. Handy link

http://yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm

[kikiek]

5. Thanks I don't have a clue how you do that.

[Eloriel]

7. It's easy --

all you do is copy the link from your browser window, then paste it into the post you're preparing. No special code needed!

Welcome to DU.

[kikiek]

9. Thanks I will it!

[annak110]

11. Thanks for the link...

Here again the researcher doesn't go far enough to get back to the powerful organization that is behind this takeover and has been behind every attempt (and success) at taking over in this country and others since their organizational (feudal) structure was able to supplant the worlds economic systems with "corporatism". Corporations began moving in on the U.S. economy in 1870.

Robertson and his ilk have been given money by the heirarchical organization I speak of, Falwell was hired and paid by Paul Wyrich ( the rightwing Roman Catholic author, fund raiser, planner who runs the Heritage Foundation) to run the "Moral Majority".

The stances taken by these idiot Protestant preachers who are literally foaming at the mouth with zeal are taken from Papal bull. There is nothing in the bible for instance about having or not having abortions (one area in the Hebrew bible recommends it under certain circumstances. The RC Bishops, you know, the ones who haven't been paying attention to their pedophiles (long standing condition), started the latest campaign against abortion rights in 1975 and structured it so that the world could say that the RC Pope is "infallable". While they were at it they also banned condoms worldwide about the time A.I.D.S. was just getting started. A struggle is now on (Texas, New York, and Wisconsin lawmakers passed a bill) to deny women the ability to buy any kind of birth control medications or devices.

Use your search engine to find the writings of John M. Swomley and others on a range of articles about the above situation as well as others. Read the publications of Catholics for a Free Choice. Read people like Penny Lernoux a practicing Catholic who wrote, among other things, "People of God, the struggle for World Catholicism" or ...well there is lots more out there, try them and then compare.

[kikiek]

12. I will do that thanks..

[bemildred]

3. Berlin is a fine thinker.

Strauss' theories are drivel, more like a ten-year-old boys
secret club than anything. I doubt that Berlin would have set
out to combat Strauss' theories as such, but "The Crooked Timber
of Humanity" is a nice collection of essays. The Harper's piece
was excellent.

[T Roosevelt]

6. From the DU archives (waay back)

One more time: LEO STRAUSS AND THE NEO-CONS

[jeff30997]

8. It makes you think...

“Let a prince therefore aim at conquering and maintaining the state, and the means will always be judged honourable and praised by every one, for the vulgar is always taken by appearances and the issue of the event; and the world consists only of the vulgar, and the few who are not vulgar are isolated when the many have a rallying point in the prince.” Very familiar...

[kikiek]

10. It highlights how far we have gone in some way, and

yet how human nature really changes little.