Tag: Welfare State

Topics

Books

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

The Lower Fifth

– “The Lower Fifth,” The New Leader, February 17, 1964. (A review of Rich Man, Poor Man by Thomas Y. Crowell.)

What Is the Public Interest?

– "What Is the Public Interest?" (with Daniel Bell), The Public Interest, Fall 1965.
Excerpt: The aim of THE PUBLIC INTEREST is at once modest and presumptuous. It is to help all of us, when we discuss issues of public policy, to know a little better what we are talking… More

The Pauper Problem

– “The Pauper Problem,” The New Leader, December 5, 1966. (A review of The Poorhouse State by Richard M. Elman and The Despised Poor by Joseph P. Ritz.)

Common Sense about the Urban Crisis

– “Common Sense about the Urban Crisis,” Fortune, October 1967. (A review of Metropolitan Enigma, United States Chamber of Commerce.)

Decentralization for What?

– "Decentralization for What?" The Public Interest, Spring 1968.
Excerpt: I began this essay by suggesting that, at this time and this place, bureaucratic nightmares might not be the worst imaginable nightmares. I also believe that, if by some miracle… More

The New Regulators

– “The New Regulators,” Fortune, June 15, 1968. (A review of Report of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Traffic, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results

– “Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results,” Atlantic, August 1971.
Excerpt: Is it surprising, then, that — unmanned and demoralized — he removes himself from family responsibilities that no longer rest on his shoulders? That he drifts out of… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Our Gang and How It Prospered

– “Our Gang and How It Prospered,” Fortune, April 1972. (A review of The Gang and the Establishment by Richard W. Poston.)

Of Populism and Taxes

– "Of Populism and Taxes," The Public Interest, Summer 1972.
Excerpt: There is no conspiracy—but there is a problem. It is not a problem of income distribution or of inequities of taxation. The problem is the bureaucratization of American… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

What Is a “Neo-Conservative”?

– “What Is a ‘Neo-Conservative’?” Newsweek, January 19, 1976.
Excerpt: 1.  Neo-conservatism is not at all hostile to the idea of a welfare state, but it is critical of the Great Society version of this welfare state.  In general, it approves of… More

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Human Nature and Social Reform

– “Human Nature and Social Reform,” Wall Street Journal, September 18, 1978.
Excerpt: What it comes down to is that our reformers simply cannot bring themselves to think realistically about human nature.  They believe it to be not only originally good, but also… More

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest

– "Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest," The Public Interest, Fall, 1985.
Excerpt: Indeed, The Public Interest has always emphasized the modestly positive along with the skeptical. Ours has always really been a meliorist frame of mind. The world is not coming to… More

The David I Knew

– “The David I Knew,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 1986.

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

American Conservatism, 1945-1995

– "American Conservatism, 1945-1995," The Public Interest, Fall 1995.
Excerpt: THE Public Interest was born well before the term “neoconservative” was invented, and will—I trust—be alive and active when the term is of only historical interest. That… More

The Feminization of the Democrats

– “The Feminization of the Democrats,” Wall Street Journal, September 9, 1996.
Excerpt: The current breakup experienced by the American family is having a profound effect on American politics, as well as on American society. One can go further and say that the social… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

The Welfare State’s Spiritual Crisis

– “The Welfare State's Spiritual Crisis,” Wall Street Journal, February 3, 1997.
Excerpt: By now it is obvious to all who wish to see that we are experiencing a profound crisis of the welfare state. Several crises, in fact. There is the financial crisis now evident in… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Petrified Europe

– “Petrified Europe,” Wall Street Journal, February 2, 1998.

Faith à la Carte

– "Faith à la Carte," The Times Literary Supplement, May 26, 2000.
Excerpt: With an unprecedented level of prosperity and the end of the Cold War, the American people say they want change—it is practically un-American for someone to say he does not want… More

The Two Welfare States

– “The Two Welfare States,” Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2000.
Excerpt: The most notable aspect of the current presidential election has been the division that has emerged between the two versions of the welfare state envisaged by the two parties. An… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is

– "The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is,"  The Weekly Standard, August 25, 2003.
Excerpt: Viewed in this way, one can say that the historical task and political purpose of neoconservatism would seem to be this: to convert the Republican party, and American conservatism… More

My “Public Interest”

– "My 'Public Interest'," The Weekly Standard, December 18, 2006.
Excerpt: In 1965, through a series of circumstances that need not be recounted here, the stars became properly aligned so that my wish could become a reality. Dan Bell and I were able to… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

A Life in the Public Interest

– James Q. Wilson, "A Life in the Public Interest" The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: The view that we know less than we thought we knew about how to change the human condition came, in time, to be called neoconservatism. Many of the writers, myself included,… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?

– George Weigel, "Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?" column syndicated by Catholic Press, October 7, 2009.
Excerpt: The Public Interest, which was chiefly responsible for brewing the ideas embodied in the welfare reform of the 1990s, was a journal in defense of subsidiarity and in opposition to… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Enduring Irving Kristol

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Enduring Irving Kristol," First Things, August/September 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In any event, one must remember that it was in the shadow of events eerily similar in many ways to those of our own times that neoconservatism took shape, both in Irving… More

The Art of Persuasion

– Ross Douthat, "The Art of Persuasion," Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: At times, the essays in The Neoconservative Persuasion suggest that these critics have a point. Neoconservatism may not be a rigid ideology, but even as a “persuasion”… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Essays

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

The Lower Fifth

– “The Lower Fifth,” The New Leader, February 17, 1964. (A review of Rich Man, Poor Man by Thomas Y. Crowell.)

What Is the Public Interest?

– "What Is the Public Interest?" (with Daniel Bell), The Public Interest, Fall 1965.
Excerpt: The aim of THE PUBLIC INTEREST is at once modest and presumptuous. It is to help all of us, when we discuss issues of public policy, to know a little better what we are talking… More

The Pauper Problem

– “The Pauper Problem,” The New Leader, December 5, 1966. (A review of The Poorhouse State by Richard M. Elman and The Despised Poor by Joseph P. Ritz.)

Common Sense about the Urban Crisis

– “Common Sense about the Urban Crisis,” Fortune, October 1967. (A review of Metropolitan Enigma, United States Chamber of Commerce.)

Decentralization for What?

– "Decentralization for What?" The Public Interest, Spring 1968.
Excerpt: I began this essay by suggesting that, at this time and this place, bureaucratic nightmares might not be the worst imaginable nightmares. I also believe that, if by some miracle… More

The New Regulators

– “The New Regulators,” Fortune, June 15, 1968. (A review of Report of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Traffic, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results

– “Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results,” Atlantic, August 1971.
Excerpt: Is it surprising, then, that — unmanned and demoralized — he removes himself from family responsibilities that no longer rest on his shoulders? That he drifts out of… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Our Gang and How It Prospered

– “Our Gang and How It Prospered,” Fortune, April 1972. (A review of The Gang and the Establishment by Richard W. Poston.)

Of Populism and Taxes

– "Of Populism and Taxes," The Public Interest, Summer 1972.
Excerpt: There is no conspiracy—but there is a problem. It is not a problem of income distribution or of inequities of taxation. The problem is the bureaucratization of American… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

What Is a “Neo-Conservative”?

– “What Is a ‘Neo-Conservative’?” Newsweek, January 19, 1976.
Excerpt: 1.  Neo-conservatism is not at all hostile to the idea of a welfare state, but it is critical of the Great Society version of this welfare state.  In general, it approves of… More

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Human Nature and Social Reform

– “Human Nature and Social Reform,” Wall Street Journal, September 18, 1978.
Excerpt: What it comes down to is that our reformers simply cannot bring themselves to think realistically about human nature.  They believe it to be not only originally good, but also… More

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest

– "Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest," The Public Interest, Fall, 1985.
Excerpt: Indeed, The Public Interest has always emphasized the modestly positive along with the skeptical. Ours has always really been a meliorist frame of mind. The world is not coming to… More

The David I Knew

– “The David I Knew,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 1986.

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

American Conservatism, 1945-1995

– "American Conservatism, 1945-1995," The Public Interest, Fall 1995.
Excerpt: THE Public Interest was born well before the term “neoconservative” was invented, and will—I trust—be alive and active when the term is of only historical interest. That… More

The Feminization of the Democrats

– “The Feminization of the Democrats,” Wall Street Journal, September 9, 1996.
Excerpt: The current breakup experienced by the American family is having a profound effect on American politics, as well as on American society. One can go further and say that the social… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

The Welfare State’s Spiritual Crisis

– “The Welfare State's Spiritual Crisis,” Wall Street Journal, February 3, 1997.
Excerpt: By now it is obvious to all who wish to see that we are experiencing a profound crisis of the welfare state. Several crises, in fact. There is the financial crisis now evident in… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Petrified Europe

– “Petrified Europe,” Wall Street Journal, February 2, 1998.

Faith à la Carte

– "Faith à la Carte," The Times Literary Supplement, May 26, 2000.
Excerpt: With an unprecedented level of prosperity and the end of the Cold War, the American people say they want change—it is practically un-American for someone to say he does not want… More

The Two Welfare States

– “The Two Welfare States,” Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2000.
Excerpt: The most notable aspect of the current presidential election has been the division that has emerged between the two versions of the welfare state envisaged by the two parties. An… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is

– "The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is,"  The Weekly Standard, August 25, 2003.
Excerpt: Viewed in this way, one can say that the historical task and political purpose of neoconservatism would seem to be this: to convert the Republican party, and American conservatism… More

My “Public Interest”

– "My 'Public Interest'," The Weekly Standard, December 18, 2006.
Excerpt: In 1965, through a series of circumstances that need not be recounted here, the stars became properly aligned so that my wish could become a reality. Dan Bell and I were able to… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

A Life in the Public Interest

– James Q. Wilson, "A Life in the Public Interest" The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: The view that we know less than we thought we knew about how to change the human condition came, in time, to be called neoconservatism. Many of the writers, myself included,… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?

– George Weigel, "Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?" column syndicated by Catholic Press, October 7, 2009.
Excerpt: The Public Interest, which was chiefly responsible for brewing the ideas embodied in the welfare reform of the 1990s, was a journal in defense of subsidiarity and in opposition to… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Enduring Irving Kristol

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Enduring Irving Kristol," First Things, August/September 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In any event, one must remember that it was in the shadow of events eerily similar in many ways to those of our own times that neoconservatism took shape, both in Irving… More

The Art of Persuasion

– Ross Douthat, "The Art of Persuasion," Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: At times, the essays in The Neoconservative Persuasion suggest that these critics have a point. Neoconservatism may not be a rigid ideology, but even as a “persuasion”… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Commentary

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

The Lower Fifth

– “The Lower Fifth,” The New Leader, February 17, 1964. (A review of Rich Man, Poor Man by Thomas Y. Crowell.)

What Is the Public Interest?

– "What Is the Public Interest?" (with Daniel Bell), The Public Interest, Fall 1965.
Excerpt: The aim of THE PUBLIC INTEREST is at once modest and presumptuous. It is to help all of us, when we discuss issues of public policy, to know a little better what we are talking… More

The Pauper Problem

– “The Pauper Problem,” The New Leader, December 5, 1966. (A review of The Poorhouse State by Richard M. Elman and The Despised Poor by Joseph P. Ritz.)

Common Sense about the Urban Crisis

– “Common Sense about the Urban Crisis,” Fortune, October 1967. (A review of Metropolitan Enigma, United States Chamber of Commerce.)

Decentralization for What?

– "Decentralization for What?" The Public Interest, Spring 1968.
Excerpt: I began this essay by suggesting that, at this time and this place, bureaucratic nightmares might not be the worst imaginable nightmares. I also believe that, if by some miracle… More

The New Regulators

– “The New Regulators,” Fortune, June 15, 1968. (A review of Report of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Traffic, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results

– “Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results,” Atlantic, August 1971.
Excerpt: Is it surprising, then, that — unmanned and demoralized — he removes himself from family responsibilities that no longer rest on his shoulders? That he drifts out of… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Our Gang and How It Prospered

– “Our Gang and How It Prospered,” Fortune, April 1972. (A review of The Gang and the Establishment by Richard W. Poston.)

Of Populism and Taxes

– "Of Populism and Taxes," The Public Interest, Summer 1972.
Excerpt: There is no conspiracy—but there is a problem. It is not a problem of income distribution or of inequities of taxation. The problem is the bureaucratization of American… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

What Is a “Neo-Conservative”?

– “What Is a ‘Neo-Conservative’?” Newsweek, January 19, 1976.
Excerpt: 1.  Neo-conservatism is not at all hostile to the idea of a welfare state, but it is critical of the Great Society version of this welfare state.  In general, it approves of… More

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Human Nature and Social Reform

– “Human Nature and Social Reform,” Wall Street Journal, September 18, 1978.
Excerpt: What it comes down to is that our reformers simply cannot bring themselves to think realistically about human nature.  They believe it to be not only originally good, but also… More

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest

– "Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest," The Public Interest, Fall, 1985.
Excerpt: Indeed, The Public Interest has always emphasized the modestly positive along with the skeptical. Ours has always really been a meliorist frame of mind. The world is not coming to… More

The David I Knew

– “The David I Knew,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 1986.

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

American Conservatism, 1945-1995

– "American Conservatism, 1945-1995," The Public Interest, Fall 1995.
Excerpt: THE Public Interest was born well before the term “neoconservative” was invented, and will—I trust—be alive and active when the term is of only historical interest. That… More

The Feminization of the Democrats

– “The Feminization of the Democrats,” Wall Street Journal, September 9, 1996.
Excerpt: The current breakup experienced by the American family is having a profound effect on American politics, as well as on American society. One can go further and say that the social… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

The Welfare State’s Spiritual Crisis

– “The Welfare State's Spiritual Crisis,” Wall Street Journal, February 3, 1997.
Excerpt: By now it is obvious to all who wish to see that we are experiencing a profound crisis of the welfare state. Several crises, in fact. There is the financial crisis now evident in… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Petrified Europe

– “Petrified Europe,” Wall Street Journal, February 2, 1998.

Faith à la Carte

– "Faith à la Carte," The Times Literary Supplement, May 26, 2000.
Excerpt: With an unprecedented level of prosperity and the end of the Cold War, the American people say they want change—it is practically un-American for someone to say he does not want… More

The Two Welfare States

– “The Two Welfare States,” Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2000.
Excerpt: The most notable aspect of the current presidential election has been the division that has emerged between the two versions of the welfare state envisaged by the two parties. An… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is

– "The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is,"  The Weekly Standard, August 25, 2003.
Excerpt: Viewed in this way, one can say that the historical task and political purpose of neoconservatism would seem to be this: to convert the Republican party, and American conservatism… More

My “Public Interest”

– "My 'Public Interest'," The Weekly Standard, December 18, 2006.
Excerpt: In 1965, through a series of circumstances that need not be recounted here, the stars became properly aligned so that my wish could become a reality. Dan Bell and I were able to… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

A Life in the Public Interest

– James Q. Wilson, "A Life in the Public Interest" The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: The view that we know less than we thought we knew about how to change the human condition came, in time, to be called neoconservatism. Many of the writers, myself included,… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?

– George Weigel, "Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?" column syndicated by Catholic Press, October 7, 2009.
Excerpt: The Public Interest, which was chiefly responsible for brewing the ideas embodied in the welfare reform of the 1990s, was a journal in defense of subsidiarity and in opposition to… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Enduring Irving Kristol

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Enduring Irving Kristol," First Things, August/September 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In any event, one must remember that it was in the shadow of events eerily similar in many ways to those of our own times that neoconservatism took shape, both in Irving… More

The Art of Persuasion

– Ross Douthat, "The Art of Persuasion," Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: At times, the essays in The Neoconservative Persuasion suggest that these critics have a point. Neoconservatism may not be a rigid ideology, but even as a “persuasion”… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Multimedia

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

The Lower Fifth

– “The Lower Fifth,” The New Leader, February 17, 1964. (A review of Rich Man, Poor Man by Thomas Y. Crowell.)

What Is the Public Interest?

– "What Is the Public Interest?" (with Daniel Bell), The Public Interest, Fall 1965.
Excerpt: The aim of THE PUBLIC INTEREST is at once modest and presumptuous. It is to help all of us, when we discuss issues of public policy, to know a little better what we are talking… More

The Pauper Problem

– “The Pauper Problem,” The New Leader, December 5, 1966. (A review of The Poorhouse State by Richard M. Elman and The Despised Poor by Joseph P. Ritz.)

Common Sense about the Urban Crisis

– “Common Sense about the Urban Crisis,” Fortune, October 1967. (A review of Metropolitan Enigma, United States Chamber of Commerce.)

Decentralization for What?

– "Decentralization for What?" The Public Interest, Spring 1968.
Excerpt: I began this essay by suggesting that, at this time and this place, bureaucratic nightmares might not be the worst imaginable nightmares. I also believe that, if by some miracle… More

The New Regulators

– “The New Regulators,” Fortune, June 15, 1968. (A review of Report of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Traffic, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results

– “Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results,” Atlantic, August 1971.
Excerpt: Is it surprising, then, that — unmanned and demoralized — he removes himself from family responsibilities that no longer rest on his shoulders? That he drifts out of… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Our Gang and How It Prospered

– “Our Gang and How It Prospered,” Fortune, April 1972. (A review of The Gang and the Establishment by Richard W. Poston.)

Of Populism and Taxes

– "Of Populism and Taxes," The Public Interest, Summer 1972.
Excerpt: There is no conspiracy—but there is a problem. It is not a problem of income distribution or of inequities of taxation. The problem is the bureaucratization of American… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

What Is a “Neo-Conservative”?

– “What Is a ‘Neo-Conservative’?” Newsweek, January 19, 1976.
Excerpt: 1.  Neo-conservatism is not at all hostile to the idea of a welfare state, but it is critical of the Great Society version of this welfare state.  In general, it approves of… More

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Human Nature and Social Reform

– “Human Nature and Social Reform,” Wall Street Journal, September 18, 1978.
Excerpt: What it comes down to is that our reformers simply cannot bring themselves to think realistically about human nature.  They believe it to be not only originally good, but also… More

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest

– "Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest," The Public Interest, Fall, 1985.
Excerpt: Indeed, The Public Interest has always emphasized the modestly positive along with the skeptical. Ours has always really been a meliorist frame of mind. The world is not coming to… More

The David I Knew

– “The David I Knew,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 1986.

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

American Conservatism, 1945-1995

– "American Conservatism, 1945-1995," The Public Interest, Fall 1995.
Excerpt: THE Public Interest was born well before the term “neoconservative” was invented, and will—I trust—be alive and active when the term is of only historical interest. That… More

The Feminization of the Democrats

– “The Feminization of the Democrats,” Wall Street Journal, September 9, 1996.
Excerpt: The current breakup experienced by the American family is having a profound effect on American politics, as well as on American society. One can go further and say that the social… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

The Welfare State’s Spiritual Crisis

– “The Welfare State's Spiritual Crisis,” Wall Street Journal, February 3, 1997.
Excerpt: By now it is obvious to all who wish to see that we are experiencing a profound crisis of the welfare state. Several crises, in fact. There is the financial crisis now evident in… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Petrified Europe

– “Petrified Europe,” Wall Street Journal, February 2, 1998.

Faith à la Carte

– "Faith à la Carte," The Times Literary Supplement, May 26, 2000.
Excerpt: With an unprecedented level of prosperity and the end of the Cold War, the American people say they want change—it is practically un-American for someone to say he does not want… More

The Two Welfare States

– “The Two Welfare States,” Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2000.
Excerpt: The most notable aspect of the current presidential election has been the division that has emerged between the two versions of the welfare state envisaged by the two parties. An… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is

– "The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is,"  The Weekly Standard, August 25, 2003.
Excerpt: Viewed in this way, one can say that the historical task and political purpose of neoconservatism would seem to be this: to convert the Republican party, and American conservatism… More

My “Public Interest”

– "My 'Public Interest'," The Weekly Standard, December 18, 2006.
Excerpt: In 1965, through a series of circumstances that need not be recounted here, the stars became properly aligned so that my wish could become a reality. Dan Bell and I were able to… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

A Life in the Public Interest

– James Q. Wilson, "A Life in the Public Interest" The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: The view that we know less than we thought we knew about how to change the human condition came, in time, to be called neoconservatism. Many of the writers, myself included,… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?

– George Weigel, "Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?" column syndicated by Catholic Press, October 7, 2009.
Excerpt: The Public Interest, which was chiefly responsible for brewing the ideas embodied in the welfare reform of the 1990s, was a journal in defense of subsidiarity and in opposition to… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Enduring Irving Kristol

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Enduring Irving Kristol," First Things, August/September 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In any event, one must remember that it was in the shadow of events eerily similar in many ways to those of our own times that neoconservatism took shape, both in Irving… More

The Art of Persuasion

– Ross Douthat, "The Art of Persuasion," Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: At times, the essays in The Neoconservative Persuasion suggest that these critics have a point. Neoconservatism may not be a rigid ideology, but even as a “persuasion”… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Teaching

Our Boondoggling Democracy

– "Our Boondoggling Democracy," Commentary, August 1958.  (A review of The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
Excerpt: The Affluent Society is by far the most serious critique of “welfare capitalism” that has been written in the post-Marxian era. (It is perhaps worth remarking that, though Mr.… More

The Lower Fifth

– “The Lower Fifth,” The New Leader, February 17, 1964. (A review of Rich Man, Poor Man by Thomas Y. Crowell.)

What Is the Public Interest?

– "What Is the Public Interest?" (with Daniel Bell), The Public Interest, Fall 1965.
Excerpt: The aim of THE PUBLIC INTEREST is at once modest and presumptuous. It is to help all of us, when we discuss issues of public policy, to know a little better what we are talking… More

The Pauper Problem

– “The Pauper Problem,” The New Leader, December 5, 1966. (A review of The Poorhouse State by Richard M. Elman and The Despised Poor by Joseph P. Ritz.)

Common Sense about the Urban Crisis

– “Common Sense about the Urban Crisis,” Fortune, October 1967. (A review of Metropolitan Enigma, United States Chamber of Commerce.)

Decentralization for What?

– "Decentralization for What?" The Public Interest, Spring 1968.
Excerpt: I began this essay by suggesting that, at this time and this place, bureaucratic nightmares might not be the worst imaginable nightmares. I also believe that, if by some miracle… More

The New Regulators

– “The New Regulators,” Fortune, June 15, 1968. (A review of Report of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Traffic, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.)

Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s

– “Ten Years in a Tunnel: Reflections on the 1930s,” in The Thirties: A Reconsideration in the Light of the American Political Tradition, ed. Morton J. Frisch and Martin Diamond (De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1968).

Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results

– “Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results,” Atlantic, August 1971.
Excerpt: Is it surprising, then, that — unmanned and demoralized — he removes himself from family responsibilities that no longer rest on his shoulders? That he drifts out of… More

On the Democratic Idea in America

– New York: Harper, 1972.
1. Urban Civilization and its Discontents 2. The Shaking of the Foundations 3. Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship 4. American Historians and the Democratic Idea 5. American… More

Our Gang and How It Prospered

– “Our Gang and How It Prospered,” Fortune, April 1972. (A review of The Gang and the Establishment by Richard W. Poston.)

Of Populism and Taxes

– "Of Populism and Taxes," The Public Interest, Summer 1972.
Excerpt: There is no conspiracy—but there is a problem. It is not a problem of income distribution or of inequities of taxation. The problem is the bureaucratization of American… More

Taxes, Poverty, and Equality

– "Taxes, Poverty, and Equality," The Public Interest, Fall 1974.
Excerpt: Taxation, poverty, and equality are all and always proper subjects for concern and reformist action. But the first step toward effective reform is to disentangle these three… More

What Is a “Neo-Conservative”?

– “What Is a ‘Neo-Conservative’?” Newsweek, January 19, 1976.
Excerpt: 1.  Neo-conservatism is not at all hostile to the idea of a welfare state, but it is critical of the Great Society version of this welfare state.  In general, it approves of… More

Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians

– “Thoughts on Equality and Egalitarians,” in Income Redistribution, ed. Colin D. Campbell (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1977).

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

Human Nature and Social Reform

– “Human Nature and Social Reform,” Wall Street Journal, September 18, 1978.
Excerpt: What it comes down to is that our reformers simply cannot bring themselves to think realistically about human nature.  They believe it to be not only originally good, but also… More

Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector

– “Foundations and the Sin of Pride: The Myth of the Third Sector,” A speech before the Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, May 30, 1980.
Excerpt: I want to make one final point, which is really my original point. Foundations came into existence originally to do all the things that needed to be done that the government did… More

Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest

– "Skepticism, Meliorism and The Public Interest," The Public Interest, Fall, 1985.
Excerpt: Indeed, The Public Interest has always emphasized the modestly positive along with the skeptical. Ours has always really been a meliorist frame of mind. The world is not coming to… More

The David I Knew

– “The David I Knew,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 1986.

A Tribute to Irving Kristol

– William E. Simon, "A Tribute to Irving Kristol," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

American Conservatism, 1945-1995

– "American Conservatism, 1945-1995," The Public Interest, Fall 1995.
Excerpt: THE Public Interest was born well before the term “neoconservative” was invented, and will—I trust—be alive and active when the term is of only historical interest. That… More

The Feminization of the Democrats

– “The Feminization of the Democrats,” Wall Street Journal, September 9, 1996.
Excerpt: The current breakup experienced by the American family is having a profound effect on American politics, as well as on American society. One can go further and say that the social… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

The Welfare State’s Spiritual Crisis

– “The Welfare State's Spiritual Crisis,” Wall Street Journal, February 3, 1997.
Excerpt: By now it is obvious to all who wish to see that we are experiencing a profound crisis of the welfare state. Several crises, in fact. There is the financial crisis now evident in… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Petrified Europe

– “Petrified Europe,” Wall Street Journal, February 2, 1998.

Faith à la Carte

– "Faith à la Carte," The Times Literary Supplement, May 26, 2000.
Excerpt: With an unprecedented level of prosperity and the end of the Cold War, the American people say they want change—it is practically un-American for someone to say he does not want… More

The Two Welfare States

– “The Two Welfare States,” Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2000.
Excerpt: The most notable aspect of the current presidential election has been the division that has emerged between the two versions of the welfare state envisaged by the two parties. An… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is

– "The Neoconservative Persuasion: What It Was, and What It Is,"  The Weekly Standard, August 25, 2003.
Excerpt: Viewed in this way, one can say that the historical task and political purpose of neoconservatism would seem to be this: to convert the Republican party, and American conservatism… More

My “Public Interest”

– "My 'Public Interest'," The Weekly Standard, December 18, 2006.
Excerpt: In 1965, through a series of circumstances that need not be recounted here, the stars became properly aligned so that my wish could become a reality. Dan Bell and I were able to… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

A Life in the Public Interest

– James Q. Wilson, "A Life in the Public Interest" The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: The view that we know less than we thought we knew about how to change the human condition came, in time, to be called neoconservatism. Many of the writers, myself included,… More

Irving Kristol’s Gone–We’ll Miss His Clear Vision

– Irwin Stelzer, "Irving Kristol's Gone–We'll Miss His Clear Vision," Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving is best known as the godfather of neoconservatism, although his persuasive tools were not those of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando’s Godfather-figures, but contained in… More

The Practical Liberal by Christopher DeMuth

– Christopher DeMuth, "The Practical Liberal," The American, September 22, 2009.
Excerpt: Irving was, from start to finish, a proponent of vigorous government within its proper sphere. He never passed up a chance to enter a dissent, serious or wisecracking, against… More

Irving Kristol’s Clear Thinking

– Jonah Goldberg, "Irving Kristol's Clear Thinking," Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009.
Excerpt: Buckley said that the neocons’ greatest contribution to conservatism was “sociology.” The early National Review conservatism was more Aristotelian, Buckley observed, while… More

Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?

– George Weigel, "Irving Kristol, Catholic Social Ethicist?" column syndicated by Catholic Press, October 7, 2009.
Excerpt: The Public Interest, which was chiefly responsible for brewing the ideas embodied in the welfare reform of the 1990s, was a journal in defense of subsidiarity and in opposition to… More

The Equilibrist

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Equilibrist," National Review, October 19, 2009.
Excerpt: LUNCH with Irving Kristol was an experience to remember. I had the pleasure only three times, always in the excellent dining room atop the American Enterprise Institute, but I… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Beyond Ideology

– James Q. Wilson, "Beyond Ideology," Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: The essays in “The Neoconservative Persuasion”—all but one never before brought together in a book—are a remarkable introduction to one of the few people who… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Enduring Irving Kristol

– Wilfred M. McClay, "The Enduring Irving Kristol," First Things, August/September 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In any event, one must remember that it was in the shadow of events eerily similar in many ways to those of our own times that neoconservatism took shape, both in Irving… More

The Art of Persuasion

– Ross Douthat, "The Art of Persuasion," Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: At times, the essays in The Neoconservative Persuasion suggest that these critics have a point. Neoconservatism may not be a rigid ideology, but even as a “persuasion”… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More