Depression-era American conservatism was weak as an intellectual force

Evidence

The American Liberty League failed to attract substantial popular or intellectual support. Journalists portrayed it as an organization dominated by a few very rich people, striking out to protect their class interests. Few intellectuals were involved with the League; its speakers were mostly businessmen, lawyers, and Democrats associated with Al Smith (Roosevelt’s opponent in the primary election). The organization quietly disappeared following Roosevelt’s reelection in 1936. The failure of the League suggests the weakness of conservatism in Depression America, especially as an intellectual force. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1445

Categorization

• SEED: The Liberty League’s failure as a purely business-led anti-New Deal effort is a natural prehistory for why intellectuals later built MPS — an essay angle on why moneyed conservatism failed until it acquired an intellectual apparatus.
• XREF: connects to: Austrian fatalism made Hayek’s side politically unsalable in the Depression — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 490; Post-Depression isolation made conservatives unusually open to rethinking laissez-faire. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 264; 1950s liberal intellectuals dismissed conservatism as intellectually incoherent — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 309 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Conservatism historically meant attaching to the status quo and resisting science and change #complicates (0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 460
• Conservatism historically means defending inequality and tradition over science #complicates (0.75)