Fascinating Read

American Ideologies by Kenneth M. Dolbeare and Patricia Dolbeare, published in 1971. An older book, but it gives fascinating insights into the roots of the ideologies that shaped the political thoughts of our day. I'm only on the first chapter, but already I've found its discussion of capitalism as an ideology, rather than an economic practice, to be informative and insightful. It particularly illuminates those branches of conservative ideology that have come to be heavily attached to capitalist ideology, which is ironic because at the time this book was written capitalism and liberalism were strongly linked. I wish that it could tell me what happened in the intervening years to change that, but I think that is going to take some additional research on my part.

I can't wait to get to the parts about conservatism, though that is in the final chapter... I think it's going to give me a lot more insight into the conservative movement than I presently have, and perhaps with that insight I will better be able to formulate arguments in a way that people of that ideology would find compelling and persuasive. Though I'm not sure if the conservatism of the day was the same brand of religious conservatism we see today....

*poke*

Anyone around at the moment? It's kind of lonely here, and I'd like to talk with people more on AIM.