Friday, July 06, 2012

Pat Buchanan, Hamiltonian Nationalist?

As the Pittsford Perennialist has linked to the post, I should add a few thoughts on the future American Conservative. It would not be entirely discordant with the man associated with the magazine, Pat Buchanan, to become more overtly Hamiltonian Nationalist. Thomas DiLorenzo writes that Mr. Buchanan told him, "Alexander Hamilton is my hero." Buchanan does lean more towards a Hamiltonian position with respect to trade and tariffs (in contrast to "Jeffersonian" Southrons like Dr. Wilson) and focusing on manufacturing (rather than having a more agrarian view). But does Buchanan believe that the Constitution provides for a strong, centralized national government? I do not think so.

Nevertheless, we have a piece like James Pinkerton's Why Do We Have USDA? (It was balanced by this piece on Joel Salatin, Cultivating Freedom, in which Salatin criticized the USDA.) Scott Galupo appears to embrace the overly positive judgments of John Robert's opinion.

But if there is someone who stands opposed to Buchanan and is opposed to Buchanan's understanding of conservatism it is probably still Ron Unz. You can find reservations expressed about Mr. Unz by other conservatives in these posts. Something more recent by Mr. Unz: Immigration, the Republicans, and the End of White America.

Buchanan is right that we should build up manufacturing; does he embrace the model of large-scale concentrations of manufacturing in certain cities (like Detroit) or regions, or is he more willing to embrace something more diffuse (and humane and sustainable), at the expense of American "wealth"? Not that the United States can be said to be "prosperous" now, like it was in the latter half of the 20th century. Should we be trying to regain that position of economic power? And if Jeffersonians are believers in free trade, what place does trade hold in their science of politics in relation to the community and the common good? Do they allow for limits to trade?

Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton? by Clyde N. Wilson
From 2007: It's Time To End Hamilton's Curse by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

A Plea for the Real Union | Clyde Wilson


From 2010: Daniel McCarthy on the Future of the American Conservative Magazine and Taking Back the Right
Interview: Daniel McCarthy on Neoconservatism
2011: Tory Anarchism in America: An Interview with Daniel McCarthy

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