The Problem of Neoconservativism

In the late 1960's, apparently as a backlash against the student countercultural movement, a group of young men emerged who wanted to mesh the fervor of social activism with a rejection of communist economics. These men, led by Irving and then William Kristol, Norman Podhoretz and Henry "Scoop" Jackson.

The reason I call these ideas a "problem" is that they combine the tendencies of a coercive state like the Soviet Union with a strict belief in laissez-faire economics. By the standards of traditional American politics, this combination makes no sense. It meant that its adherants could advocate for military intervention in foreign nations and a strict federal ban on abortion while insisting that the government leave corporations alone. Neither FDR nor Ike would have recognized these ideas as coherent, and they render labels like "conservative" and "liberal" obsolete.

When neoconservatives like Paul Wolfowitz and Doug Feith put their hands on the bureaucratic controls of the executive branch, they were in the perfect position to implement their odd combination of beliefs. They had the means to apply coercive methods in foreign policy while failing to enforce the economic controls left behind by the Great Society and New Deal they so abhorred. They did not need legislative endorsement or even an elected position to take these actions, though they did need someone who would listen to them in the White House. Especially under George W. Bush, they had that person.