> From: Michael Perelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [PEN-L:9535] Re: more linguistic puzzles > Thanks for the Foxley ref. with the neo-conservative/neo-liberal > transmutation. The neo-conservatives, such as Podheretz were liberals > (sort of) who became conservative. To be a little more precise, the neo-cons were right-wing social democrats who had been communists and Trotskyists in the 1930's. Their conservatism was founded mostly on anti-communism and cultural reaction to the 1960's, to the extent that they renounced the Democratic Party when George McGovern first ran for President. They were much slower to discard liberal/soc-dem economic positions, particularly the labor people. I went to a right-wing conference in the late 1980's on welfare and heard Gertrude Himmelfarb affirm her support for social insurance. Some of them came back when Clinton ran in 1992. One of the interesting splits on the right now is between the neo-cons, many Jewish, and the anti-semitic right. The neo-cons never developed any mass following, in contrast to their adversaries in the G.O.P., and this is pushing them back to the Democrats. This parallels the reconciliation between the AFL-CIO and anti- anti-communist veterans of the New Left who were active in opposing U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The key manifestation of this coming together was the anti-NAFTA coalition. MBS =================================================== Max B. Sawicky Economic Policy Institute [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1660 L Street, NW 202-775-8810 (voice) Ste. 1200 202-775-0819 (fax) Washington, DC 20036 Opinions above do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone associated with the Economic Policy Institute. ===================================================
