The Corrosion of Conservatism

Why I Left the Right

By: Max Boot

Narrated by: Max Boot

Warning that the Trump presidency presages America’s decline, the political commentator recounts his extraordinary journey from lifelong Republican to vehement Trump opponent. As nativism, xenophobia, vile racism, and assaults on the rule of law threaten the very fabric of our nation, The Corrosion of Conservatism presents an urgent defense of American democracy.

Pronouncing Mexican immigrants to be “rapists”, Donald Trump announced his 2015 presidential bid, causing Max Boot to think he was watching a dystopian science-fiction movie. The respected conservative historian couldn’t fathom that the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan could endorse such an unqualified reality-TV star. Yet, the Twilight Zone episode that Boot believed he was watching created an ideological dislocation so shattering that Boot’s transformation from Republican foreign policy adviser to celebrated anti-Trump columnist becomes the dramatic story of The Corrosion of Conservatism.

No longer a Republican, but also not a Democrat, Boot here records his ideological journey from a “movement” conservative to a man without a party, beginning with his political coming-of-age as a young émigré from the Soviet Union, enthralled with the National Review and the conservative intellectual tradition of Russell Kirk and F. A. Hayek. Against this personal odyssey, Boot simultaneously traces the evolution of modern American conservatism, jump-started by Barry Goldwater’s canonical The Conscience of a Conservative, to the rise of Trumpism and its gradual corrosion of what was once the Republican Party.

While 90 percent of his fellow Republicans became political “toadies” in the aftermath of the 2016 election, Boot stood his ground, enduring the vitriol of his erstwhile conservative colleagues, trolled on Twitter by a white supremacist who depicted his “execution” in a gas chamber by a smiling, Nazi-clad Trump. And yet, Boot nevertheless remains a villain to some partisan circles for his enduring commitment to conservative fiscal and national security principles. It is from this isolated position, then, that Boot launches this bold declaration of dissent and its urgent plea for true, bipartisan cooperation.

With uncompromising insights, The Corrosion of Conservatism evokes both a president who has traduced every norm and the rise of a nascent centrist movement to counter Trump’s assault on democracy.

©2018 Max Boot (P)2018 Recorded Books

I felt he was masterfully telling my story.

Throughout the book, I was shaking my head in agreement, yet with lament, my own story.

Title says it all

The title pretty much sums up the story. Max goes into detail at what caused the corrosion and gives a hopeful glimpse into the future for those of us in the middle. Must read for recovering “dittoheads” and Never Trumpers!

Good book, weak performance

This was an interesting listen for me -- and interesting reflection on how Trumpism is a symptom (rather than the cause) of a crisis in conservatism.

But Boot's reading is sometimes painful to listen to, as he sounds bored himself. I wonder if he read it himself to save money rather than hire a better-sounding reader?

Very much worth reading

I was impressed by Mr. Boot’s humility and his willingness to question a lifetime dedication to the right wing. The only disadvantages to this book, in my opinion, are the narrator’s disappointing lack of effort in learning how to pronounce Russian words and names and the last chapter, where Boot returns to shopworn and twisted Republican talking points about the left. I find myself wondering if he will modify his views over time. I thought this was a very well written and interesting book and have recommended it to many friends on the left and right.

Glad he switched.

Independent doesn't mean disenfranchised. We Indies have a vote. I need convincing we need so strong a defense. Other than that I agree.