This week, as we celebrate Christmas and look ahead to the new year, we’d like to show you a little bit of what we, atThe American Conservative , were reading in 2022.
Do you need to do some holiday shopping last-minute? You want to welcome the new year with some great reading? Main Street Conservatism, The American Conservative’s twentieth-anniversary anthology.
It’s shameless, I know. But it could be even more shameless. This could have been written either by Emile Doak, TAC executive director, or Helen Andrews senior editor. Their names are on the cover as principal editors for this huge undertaking. They could have ordered me to write it. They didn’t do that. This was my idea. To be completely clear, you will find the obvious fundraising pitch at the bottom after I pitched.
Helen stated in her opening editorial that when TAC published my profile of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, it was because Helen was acutely aware of the proud tradition. Bradley Devlin was just a baby when TAC was established.
Both of these points are correct. When the first issue The American Conservative was released, I was only four years old. I was a college student when the first issue of em>The American Conservative hit store shelves on October 7, 2002. It was then that I began to pay attention to The American Conservative ‘s statements in the wake the Afghanistan Papers were released. I wanted to know why all the “right” people had been so wrong.
As I became more aware of the contradictions in right-liberal laissez faire dogmatism, my appreciation for TAC increased. What made me think that America could simply waltz into other countries without any consequences? I was astonished that “creative destruction”, the panacea for America’s rapidly declining middle class, could have been possible. TAC provided an alternative to the failed consensus. It also gave an account of conservative intellectual tradition and conservative movement, which explains how, when and where we went wrong.
When I accepted the job at TAC I was already familiar with the magazine’s editorial outlook and eager to be a part of its rich tradition. It is a huge responsibility and I was concerned that I didn’t have enough knowledge about the magazine’s past to make meaningful contributions. Working on Main Street Conservatism together with Helen and Emile, as well as reading the final product, gave me a comprehensive account of TAC’s twenty year history and American right’s intellectual heritage.
My girlfriend brought to my attention a Gustav Mahler paraphrase of St. Thomas More: “Tradition does not involve the worship of ashes but the preservation and maintenance of fire.” This is what we strive to do every day at American Conservative. Main Street Conservatism, which features some of the most iconic pieces from TAC, covering topics ranging from faith and family to foreign policy, doesn’t just keep this publication’s history, it also points to the Truth that every good tradition instills.
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After a brief introduction, Main Street Conservation starts with Scott McConnell’s founding editorial, “We Take Our Stand,” which outlines the magazine’s raison-d’etre. TAC would open the Overton window, challenge the liberal political establishment, and make substantive changes in the American right. It is more than simply writing op-eds.
The anthology also features Pat Buchanan, co-founder of TAC. His book “Whose War” warned that Washington’s desire to intervene abroad would harm America’s domestic interests. Buchanan is now vindicated after defending his position two decades later. He saved thousands of lives and securing trillions of dollars. Buchanan wasn’t only a warning against the globalists foreign policy agenda but also their economic agenda in “The Death of Manufacturing.” Before the government closed down the mines, he was a canary in a coal mine.
Roger Scruton’s article “The Right Architecture”, which is part of the anthology’s American culture section, discusses the importance and value of our shared and built environment. He discussed how our environment affects our community and reflects our priorities. This was Scruton’s unique approach. You will also find entries by Patrick Deneen and Michael Anton, Dan McCarthy, as well as Senator-elect J.D. Vance.
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Main Street Conservatism does not reflect a past era in American politics. It examines the past to see what lessons can be learned from both wins and losses so that we may move forward. We are committed to conserving “all that makes life worth living.” As Emile states in the preface to this article, Main Street Conservation is one small part of that mission. We can’t do this alone. TAC is a relational, communal being. TAC needs allies and partners who “believe conservatism is the most natural political tendency, which is rooted in man’s taste for familiarity, for family, and for faith in God,” McConnell wrote in the editorial that launched it all twenty-years ago. We hope you join us.
Main Street Conservatism is available wherever books are sold. TAC Headquarters can sign your copy if you make a $100 gift through this link.
