new right conservatism Flashcards
what did robert nozick think? include quotes
-Growth of welfare states was promoting a dependency culture.
-Not a true anarchist, instead promoting a ‘minarchist’ state, which outsourced public services to private companies.
-Optimistic view of human nature, unlike Hobbes. He has an upbeat view that individuals have self-ownership, and are sole authors of their talents and abilities. Egotistical.
-Though, not wholly positive. Argued that preservation of life, liberty, and property “could not be taken for granted.” without formal enforcing laws.
-Minarchism would allow a multitude of self sufficent communities to emerge, alongside an extension of individual freedom.
-Reflected Burke’s ‘little platoons’, where communities would be free to practise their own particular values.
-Rejects welfare & redistribution, thinking property rights should be strictly upheld.
-“Tax, for the most part, is theft.”
-State’s involvement should be “limited to the narrow functions of force, theft, enforcement of contracts and so on.”
-“The state’s claim to legitimacy induces its citizens to believe they have some duty to obey its edict, pay its taxes, fight its battles, and so on.”
-“Taxation of earnings from labour is on a par with forced labour.”
-“The illegitimate use of a state by economic interests for their own end is based upon a pre-existing illegitimate power of the state to enrich some persons at the expense of others.”
what did ayn rand think? include quotes
-Objectivism, claiming to show people as they truly are (rationally self-interested).
-Core beliefs include: an atomistic society, nature of reality where people can achieve self-realisation & self-fulfilment.
-Atomistic society! She thought that society did not exist in any practical form, but it was just a loose connection of independent individuals. Rejected an organic society, and the moral purpose of society is to protect individual rights.
-Linked strongly to the New Right, and laissez-faire capitalism/negative liberty.
-Supported policies like tax cuts & privatisation, opposed welfare and allowing individuals to choose to get abortions etc.
-Liberty is impossible without order & security, which only the state can provide.
-People should have the right to maintain property and income without being taxed for welfare spending.
-Rejected human imperfection, saying “man must be the beneficiary of his own moral actions.”
-Argues for “rolling back the frontiers of thestate” both economically & socially.
-“The small straight is the strong state.”
-“Right to choose” for things like abortions & homosexuality.
What did the new right arise in response to? What the New Right Solution?
Political failures of the mid-1970s, including:
-Failing economies, with extensive state intervention, ownership, and spending, ans well as high taxation.
-Failing societies, where the ‘bloated’ welfare state had enabled dependecy cultures, with irresponsible lifestyles. Rand thought these were “over-indulgent” and “over-reliant on state welfare.”
-Failing States, where Western democracies were becoming ‘ungovernable.’ Nozick feared that the UK was ‘ripe for Marxism.’
-NRS: It was a hybrid ideology, combining neo-conservatism, and neo-liberalism.
What was Neo-Conservatism?
-A reassertion of the importance of order, authority, and a strong, formidable state. Essentially, a fresh look at traditional conservatism.
-It is linked to a tougher approach to law & order, robust approach to national defence, lower tolerance, and promotion of ‘traditional’ families.
-It is heavily linked with the governments of Thatcher & Reagan in the 1980s.
What was Neo-Liberalism?
-Associated with Friedrich von Hayek, and the Adam Smith Institute.
-Updated the individualism of John Locke & negative liberty of JSM, hoping to “set people free” from state interference, and to diminish the dependency culture.
-The only role of government is to protect the rights of citizens.
-Emphasised the reduction personal taxation, containment of government spending, and deregulation of industries & services.
Is it contradictory? Or is it a subtle blend?
-NL & NC had contradictory views of the states. NL wanted privatisation whereas NC wanted restriction of trade unions.
-They also disagree on the expansion of individual liberty, but both in the name of law & order.
-NL wanted to contain spending, whereas NC wanted to increase it in the name of law & order.
-NL economics, though, promote NC as the state’s withdrawal from the economy & relinquishes the burden of welfare, they can then fund policing.
-NC society promote a NL economy as the traditional family makes it less likely for people to be in need of welfare, reducing government spending.
