William Rusher begins the interview describing how he became a conservative and then goes on to define modern American conservative thought. He argues that a proper understanding, a conservative understanding, of man’s nature, generally, requires the recognition of the Judeo-Christian concept that the individual and his relationship to God is at the center of all things, and that this relationship is the creator and guarantor of individualism. Rusher spends the rest of the interview talking about conservative views on abortion, welfare, and socialism, finding that that in so far as the individual in our heritage has any significance he has it because of a believed relationship to God. If there is no God then there is no such relationship and the collective becomes more important than the individual, as the Marxists believe, making it possible for society to impose crushing burdens on the individual that would not be permitted in a society where the individual is the most important thing. Modern American conservatives believe that collectivism is contrary to the nature of man. Rusher concludes his discussion by declaring that the “liberal welfare state,” which is centered on the collective, is harming individuals via welfare, social security (a regressive payroll tax), and the like, and that conservatives are against anything that harms the individual.
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