The Rise of Conservatism in the 1970s and 1980s, Essay Example

The rise of conservatism in American politics and society in the 1970‘s and 1980‘s can be viewed as a backlash to the enactment of many progressive or liberal policies that preceded the rise of the so-called New right. One of the strong incentives to the creation of the New Right was the Civil Rights movement and the movement for women’s equality both of which threatened traditional modes of economic and political control in the U.S. Another factor was the rise of the environmental movement and the subsequent expansion of pollution control and industrial regulations that also threatened establishment power. A third contribution was the rise of the anti-war movement in the 1960’s and 1970’s that stood against American military involvement in Southeast Asia. If the progressive political side of America was pushing for an end to racial discrimination, foreign wars, and uncontrolled and unregulated capitalism, as well as equal rights for women, the conservative response to this was the creation of what is ow called the New Right.

Chapter 30 mentions that “the failures in U.S. foreign policy, accompanied by the faltering economy, played a large part in mobilizing” 10  the conservative resistance to extended progressive influence over public policy and foreign affairs. The New right had, as its agenda, a return to the traditional policies that allowed discrimination against blacks and women, as well as unregulated economic systems and the lack of government moderation in regard to militarizing America’s foreign policy. One of the more interesting facets of the New Right is that aimed to appeal as much on moral or ethical ideals as on strictly political policies. In regard to women’s rights for example, the New right ascribed to the prejudicial belief that “The unspoken assumption is that women are different. They do not have executive ability orderly minds, stability, leadership skills, and they are too emotional.” 11 The area of impact for the New Right was not only political but cultural.

So, for example, Chapter 30 mentions that “What distinguished the New Right from the old was an emphasis on “moral values” and its populist character.” 12  The New Right sought to create a populist furor that would result in the eradication of the progressive social and political victories that the right saw as a threat to its economic and cultural existence.

One immediate impact on policy that came about due to the influence of the New Right was the defeat of the equal Rights Amendment. In regard to this proposed legislation, “the New Right embraced what they termed “traditional family values”: defeating the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) stood at the top of their political agenda.” 13 The ERA was in fact defeated in no small part due to the influence of the New Right.

A second indication of how the New Right altered policy is the adoption in the 1980’s of the Reagan doctrine in regard to international affairs. The Reagan  Doctrine “reasserted America’s right to intervene anywhere in the world and pledged to supply overt and covert aid to anti-Communist resistance movements.”14 This dramatic shift in foreign policy reinstated the conservative idea that military intervention in foreign countries was a viable way to conduct international affairs. the progressive movement that had stood against the Viet Nam War was now forced to watch America enter into a period of extreme militarization much of which was directed through covert wars and illegal military actions in an effort to defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War. The end-result of this policy was to reinstate the kind of militarization of both America’s foreign policy and its impact on domestic conditions.

For example, the Viet Nam era policies were such that many Americans who fought in the Viet Nam became estranged from both their political and cultural roots. The confusion that many Viet Nam veterans felt about their role in conducting the war resulted in a cultural “fallout” that spread from individuals to families and then, ultimately, to the very kinds of social revolutions and counter-cultural  that the New Right considered to be a threat to America. The unseen connection for conservatives between the militarization of foreign policy and the disintegration of domestic “values” was well-documented in  Wallace Terry’s book Bloods: An Oral History of the Viet Nam War by Black Veterans (1981). This book includes a succinct quote by an veteran which sums up the cultural schism associated with foreign wars “I say to myself, I spent all this time over there so my friends could have abetter life.” 15  The tragedy of conservative foreign policy is that it asks a few underprivileged individuals to fight for the security of the wealthy elite.

Notes

1. Southern Manifesto Supplemental Readings (01/01/2012) para. 9.
2. Sutherland, Elizabeth. (1965) Letters from Mississippi. Supplemental Readings (01/01/2012)
3. 38.
4. Buhle (2012). Out of Many: A History of the American People, Brief Edition,Volume2, Chapters 17-31, Pearson. p.754
5. Ibid, 766.
6. Ibid, 766.
7. Roberts, Paul Craig (1984) The Supply Side Revolution; Supplemental Readings Due Date: (01/01/2012) para. 3.
8. Roberts, para. 9.
9. Adler, Jerry (1984) “The Year of the Yuppie,” Newsweek, 31. Dec. p. 19
10. Ibid. p. 28
11. Buhle (2012). Out of Many: A History of the American People, Brief Edition,Volume2, Chapters 17-31, Pearson. p. 812
12. Chisolm, Shirley. (1969) “Equal Rights for Women.” Address To The United States House Of Representatives, Washington, DC. Supplemental Readings (01/01/2012) para. 6.
13. Buhle (2012). Out of Many: A History of the American People, Brief Edition,Volume2, Chapters 17-31, Pearson. p. 812.13. Ibid. 814.
14. Ibid. p. 822.
15. Terry, Wallace. (1981) Bloods: An Oral History of the Viet Nam War by Black Veterans. Random House NY. p. 90

References

Adler, Jerry (1984) “The Year of the Yuppie,” Newsweek, 31. Dec.

Buhle (2012). Out of Many: A History of the American People, Brief Edition,Volume2, Chapters 17-31, Pearson.

Chisolm, Shirley. (1969) “Equal Rights for Women.” Address To The United States House Of Representatives, Washington, DC

Roberts, Paul Craig (1984) The Supply Side Revolution;  Harvard University Press.

Southern Manifesto on Integration (March 12, 1956). From Congressional Record, 84th Congress Second Session. Vol. 102, part 4.

Sutherland, Elizabeth. (1965) Letters from Mississippi. McGraw Hill.

Terry, Wallace. (1981) Bloods: An Oral History of the Viet Nam War by Black Veterans. Random House NY.