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Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism

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Publisher: Metropolitan Books
List Price: $25.00
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DESCRIPTION:

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.66
EAN: 9780805082449
ISBN: 0805082441
Label: Metropolitan Books
Manufacturer: Metropolitan Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2008-04-15
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
Release Date: 2008-04-15
Studio: Metropolitan Books


SIMILAR ITEMS:

• The Revolution: A Manifesto
• Churchill, Hitler, and "The Unnecessary War": How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World
• Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement (Background: Essential Texts for the Conservative Mind)
• Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization
• We Who Dared to Say No to War: American Antiwar Writing from 1812 to Now


CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Customer Rating:
Summary: Philosophical Blather
Comment: Kauffman tells us that there is a long and honorable tradition of antiwar thought among the American right, though unfortunately muted at times. An October 2005 Pew poll found Democrats 2X as likely as Republicans to say the U.S. should mind its own business internationally; a decade earlier there was no substantial difference. Only 24% in the recent poll affirmed that goal.

Unfortunately, the essence of this book is a seemingly infinite number of quotes from earlier Americans - from President Washington on, and even including several pages from Howard Buffett (much better known more for his son, Warren).

I don't know what those quotes and citations "prove" - certainly nothing to me as a conservative, independent-thinking pragmatist who volunteered twice for Vietnam and since concluded it, and almost every U.S. conflict since was at best, stupid.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A History of American Antiwar Conservativism
Comment: In "Ain't My America" Bill Kaufmann gives a history of American politicians that have gone against imperial ambitions during various eras of our government. Ranging from opposition to each war to the resistance of expansion regarding Louisiana, Hawaii, Texas, and territories like the Phillipines, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

From the author: "Ignore the neoconservative gleet about America being the world policeman. Neutrality, abstention from foreign quarrels, minding our own business- these, and not the perpetual war in service of American Empire, are our birthright."

He was particularly harsh in assessing the actions of former presidents Wilson and Truman. And rightfully so. Consider the incarceration of vocal dissenters of WWI under Wilson and Truman's unconstitutional power grab in embroiling us in Korea.

Mr. Kaufmann provides some information on the America First Committee, and some of it's prominent members and donors.

Most books that I have read about the real conservative movement in America cover the Republican party. Mr. Kaufmann effectively demonstrates that anti-imperialism and anti-war positions cross party lines. George McGovern is a prime example!

He quotes Robert Taft's January 5, 1951 speech to Congress.An excerpt from the speech that has proven timeless is this - "The principle purpose of the foreign policy of the United States is to maintain the liberty of our people. It's purpose is not to reform the entire world or spread sweetness, and light and economic prosperity to peoples who have lived and worked out their own salvation for centuries, according to their customs, and to the best of their abilities."

An interesting tidbit was the information on Nebraska Representative Howard Buffett. He had a libertarian stance and he was Warren Buffett's father. Mr. Buffett had connections to Robert Taft and Murray Rothbard.

I hadn't heard of T. Coleman Andrews before reading this book. He had served as Commissioner of the IRS from 1953-1955 and resigned his post due to his opposition to the income tax. After his resignation he suggested "that every person who gets a tax return receives a copy of the Communist Manifesto with it so he can see what is happening to him."

Bill Kaufmann covers a lot of conservative political figures through American history with wit and some humor. This is a worthy read on the history of those holding the original conservative ideals.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Love the language and the YELL!
Comment: Great to have the sense and humanity of anti-war understanding broadened to include 'conservative'. Great to have anti-imperialism, the same.
I don't think I've enjoyed going to the dictionary so often since high school. Thanks for all those great new words, often cleverly employed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What have they done with my America
Comment: I am new to the writings of Bill Kauffman. "Ain't My America" is my first book of his, but I suspect it will not be my last. I admit I am a product of a conservatism that has morphed over the years. Pursuing a system of thought that ties all of the dangling ends together is never ending. This book has provided me with yet another piece of the puzzle and some new alley-ways to explore.

I appreciate Kauffman's self-disclosure on p. 10, "...My politics are localist, decentralist, Jeffersonian. I am an American rebel, a Main Street bohemian, a rural Christian pacifist..." I find this intellectually refreshing and wish that all authors would follow this model. No longer do I have to wonder what worldview this author is trying to foist upon me. With a disclosure of the underlying premise or presupposition, I am free to turn the ideas over on their merit.

This book is only five chapters long, but one should not be mislead by that anecdotal piece of information. The chapters are long and develop threads of thought that appear to need extended treatment in these broad buckets he designed. For me, one of the true revelations was Kauffman's extensive treatment of George McGovern. I think there is some similarity between McGovern and Goldwater in that, absent a personal study of these two figures of near history, one's view of these men is likely to be shaped entirely by the media of their day. It seems that both of them suffered the fate of having their stories managed and told by others. On p. 134, McGovern's depiction of life in a small town sounded like something lifted right out of a speech of today's vice-presidential candidate. "there is a wholesomeness about life in a rural state that is a meaningful factor. It doesn't guarantee you are going to be a good guy simply because you grow up in an agricultural area, but I think the chances of it are better, because of the sense of well-being, the confidence in the decency of life that comes with working not only with the land but also with the kinds of people who live on the land." Kauffman blames the "neoconservatives" for framing a story much different than this as it pertains to McGovern. It seems to me in the game of politics, if you don't tell your story others will. In other sections of the book Kauffman describes choices McGovern made that may have contributed to his story getting away from him. I will admit that I intend to read a sympathetic biography of McGovern's life as a result of Kauffman's treatment.

Here is my rub with "Ain't My America." Kauffman, a self described pacifist, gives me no insight about how I can join him in his pacifism. As a Christian myself, pacifism is certainly a natural bent of mine, but I admit I wrestle with evil, not necessarily in the world, but rather in my own neighborhood. What do we do about an 84 year old aunt who has her home broken into and all of her possessions stolen by slugs of society? I know what I want to do, but my religious convictions have to inform my behavior. I wonder if there is anything that Kauffman would consider worthy of fighting for today?

Another thing I found mildly irritating was Kauffman's tendency to associate a pejorative adjective in his every reference to Bush, Cheney, Fox News and anyone else that was identified with today's conservative embodiment. The one notable exception was Duncan of Tennessee. He consistently gives passes to liberals, I assume because they are anti-war and even though their most hideous form of elitism would scoff at the very thing that McGovern held out as a more noble way of life, life in a small town - all things local. The liberal tells us we live in a global community and we will never again see the days of Ward and June Cleaver. Those days are gone, get over it. I think Kauffman would say that does not have to be the case, and I would want to agree with him. I would like to explore that more fully.

I wish one time I could pick up a book, written in an engaging style, and not feel like I am under assault and that those I have supported are lampooned or dismissed as merely "petulantly vacant mug(s)" (p.238). An author should have as his primary goal to arouse in his reader a response, to imaginative ideas, not a reaction, to harsh or over the top words. I did find myself in agreement with much of Kuffman's summary, "...decentralism, liberty, economy in government, religious faith, family centeredness, parochialism, smallness..." (p.233), as a form of conservatism that he would advocate. This was a good read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Finally
Comment: I was raised by my grandparents, in Northern Wisconsis. The were America First "isolationists". After reading AIN'T MY AMERICA, I have a better understanding and appreciaton for this heritage which they gave to me. Not only would America be much better off today if we had remained true to the original ideals and principles which our country was founded on, and maintained neutrality, the countries and people we allegedly sought to "help" would have been much better off also.

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