The Conscience of a Conservative · Chapter
Endnotes explained
The endnotes provide clarifications and additional data points, challenging the notion that conservatism is opposed to progress, and offering specific figures on federal welfare expenditures.
What happens
The endnotes provide clarifications and additional data points, challenging the notion that conservatism is opposed to progress, and offering specific figures on federal welfare expenditures.
Themes in this chapter
Welfarism and Individual Responsibility
The endnotes highlight the scale of federal welfare spending, implicitly critiquing the expansion of the welfare state.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The narrator provides commentary and data in the endnotes.
Key passages
“This is a strange label indeed: it implies that “ordinary” Conservatism is opposed to progress. Have we forgotten that America made its greatest progress when Conservative principles were honored and preserved.”
The label 'conservative' is misleading because it suggests opposition to progress, yet America advanced most when conservative principles were upheld.
The narrator defends conservatism as compatible with progress.