I am always interested in conversion stories, usually of a religious nature but sometimes in other aspects too. I saw this book listed on a blog I stumbled on one day that had a long list of recommended books. The blog itself was proudly conservative in point of view and one of the many books listed was this particular one. I thought the title and premise sounded very intriguing. Harry Stein, the author, went from being a 60's radical on his college campus to a Republican-sympathizer proud of the moniker 'conservative', even though it does make him wince at times (mostly because for years and years he wouldn't have recognized himself in that way.)
Stein is an amusing writer. I wouldn't call him the deepest thinker in the world. He spent most of his journalistic career writing for the likes of Esquire Magazine and TV Guide. However, he is a very honest observer and he thinks things through to their logical conclusions.
Stein traces his metamorphosis from anti-war demonstrator and free love advocate to career journalist who eventually has an ethics column in the Wall Street Journal. His job gives him a close up of the media and slowly he begins to rebel against the political correctness and groupthink that has him and his cohorts in such a grip that they are literally afraid to report the truth about things but always feel compelled to give a particular spin to stories. And most reporters don't even realize how biased they are. He has great admiration for those who are consistent and cut against the grain, like Nat Hentoff, for example. He blames most of his transformation on meeting his wife who inspired ridiculously old fashioned feelings such as: couples ought to be faithful to one another, and parents should put their children ahead of their own careers. He has the audacity to be influenced by his wife who followed her motherly instincts (even though she had a seemingly great and glossy career) and decided not to do like all her peers and have daycare raise their children. He began to hate the sexualization of our culture because he instinctively found it a crummy place in which to raise kids. He traces it back to feminism. He does a very insightful analysis of feminism and how much harm it has done society. He is also very fair and talks about the good as well, but his gift is honesty and he can parse through the good and the bad with real clarity.
I really think the force that moves Stein's thinking from point A to point B is that he can't stand hypocrisy in others and especially in himself, and because of that he's self-reflective and also more open-minded. He went from hating pro-lifers to being sympathetic. He still thinks abortion should be legal, so he isn't that socially conservative but he was shocked to discover upon meeting pro-life advocates that they didn't actually hate women but rather saw the unborn child as the victim. This was a great revelation apparently. Because of abortions in his past he can't quite get himself to draw the obvious conclusion. However, he does wind up saying that the argument boils down to which thing you see as more sacred: human life or a woman's right to choose. To me, the idea that these two choices are weighted equally somehow, defies belief but Stein hasn't gotten there yet.
I don't think I've shifted as much as Stein has. I've always been pro-life, anti-death penalty and very, very cautious about war. I just can't get as worked up over 2nd amendment rights as I do the First or Fourth or Fifth. And Stein really goes after affirmative action in the last section of his book and frankly, I've always been sympathetic, though not uncritical, of its attempt to even the playing field.
This book is a little bit dated in that it is written during the whole Clinton-Lewinsky debacle and Stein plainly sees Clinton as everything that's gone wrong with liberal thinking. He can't stand the guy! It had me wondering what he thinks now. I'm looking forward to reading his more recent book on this subject: I Can't Believe I'm Sitting Next to a Republican!
I got this book out of my local library. Stein is a very funny writer. This book had me guffawing in places. I appreciated his honesty, clarity and wit.
Two thumbs up! For more reviews visit 52 Books.
No comments:
Post a Comment