Barry Goldwater: The Conscience of the Conservative

The Conscience of a Conservative: Chapter 1 The first chapter of The Conscience of a Conservative articulately describes the conservative ideology. Barry Goldwater delves into Conservatism, and explains that although economics play a role in their ideals, it is surely not the main focus—supporting the idea, and stressing the fact, that they are not money cravers. In a sense, the well-being of the average man and their needs, such as freedom, over rule their “economic wants,” as depicted in paragraph 4. Goldwater begins the chapter by sharing how people are inclined to thinking of Conservatism as a biased, “mechanistic economic theory.” However, he infers that it is not necessarily the people’s fault for thinking this way, but in fact, it is those Republicans who decide to put labels on themselves, such as “progressive” Conservatives and “‘Compassionate” Conservative, fault. These modifiers are the reasons for distancing one from actual Conservatism, and letting candidates claim to still being a Conservative. This, Goldwater believes, compares highly with the acceptance that Conservatism is indeed an economic theory when in fact it focuses on something more than that. Barry Goldwater feels that the main difference between Conservatives and Liberals is that Liberals “fight against nature.” In Goldwater’s perspective, Liberals use a method of controlling politics and economics in a way to push for progress; which he sees as being tyrannical since being economically and politically free no longer plays a part. On the contrary, Conservatives feel that economics and freedom are intertwined, meaning that they should go hand and hand. Goldwater begins to explain that personal liberty, the government off of your back without us having to tell them so every 24/7, is the only way to prevent the slavery that comes with too large a government through the eyes of a Conservative; slavery of our nature comes when your personal liberties and freedoms are taken away over