Over at the Washington Times' Fishwrap, Robert Stacy McCain has some gloomy
words on the intellectual state of young conservatives. He relates a snippet of a conversation he had with a friend of mine last night:
Thursday evening at Fado, I found myself talking to Luke Sheahan of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) and mentioned Mr. Keene's point.
Are young conservatives really so lacking in "philosophical underpinnings"? Mr. Sheahan answered by telling about meeting with conservative students at one campus who wanted to form a club. Mr. Sheahan said he suggested calling the club the Friedrich Hayek Society or the Milton Friedman Society.
The reaction? Blank stares. "They had no idea who they were," Mr. Sheahan said.
I was also there last night, but I missed this exchange, so I'm not sure what surrounded it. Still, while I agree that many young conservatives are woefully ignorant of their intellectual forebears, I would like to inject an uncharacteristic note of hope. This gathering was, after all, organized by
ISI, which has done more than anyone else to spread conservative intellectual theory on campuses. And Luke Sheahan is a great example of its effectiveness. He's 23, has been out of college for a year, and is passionate about conservative philosophy, as well as an able activist. ISI did a lot to help nurture his gifts; it gave him free books by conservative intellectuals, invited him to seminars and conferences to discuss philosophy and politics, helped fund the conservative newspaper he oversaw in college, etc. So yes, there is a great need for young conservatives to engage with serious thinkers, but the movement is not devoid of those who do.