and revolutionized the field (for goodrnand ill) is more deserving of mention.rnI did not expect the German-AmericanrnFriedrich List to be on A&E’s roll,rnyet his thought warrants our attention.rnBy codifying the mercantilist experiencernthat guided the West to the IndustrialrnRevolution, his National System of PoliticalrnEconomy laid out the policies that notrnonly made America the world’s leadingrneconomy by the end of the 19th centur)-,rnbut have underpinned the efforts of ever’rnother major country’ that has successfullyrnindustrialized. From an economic standpoint,rnthis process has been the outstandingrnaccomplishment of the millennium.rnA&E did credit Karl Marx (7) for inspiringrnthe monstrous tyrannies of Leninrn(35), Stalin, and Mao Tse-tung (43).rnHowever, A&E implied that these werernperversions and that Marx should be rememberedrnfor inspiring labor unions andrna social concern for the poor. This isrnnonsense.rnThe Communist Manifesto, written inrn1848, a year that Central Europe wasrnswept with bloody revolutions, openedrnwith the fiery sentence, “The history ofrnall hitherto existing sociefy is the histor)’rnof class struggles.” Marx himself set thernstage for the murderous purges of “democratic”rnsocialists, labor union leaders,rnand other reformers under communistrnregimes. His first book (The Poverty ofrnPhilosophy, 1847) was an attack on PierrernJoseph Proudhon, a middle-class socialistrnwho advocated voluntarv’ self-help organizahons,rneasy credit so people could investrnin their own enterprises, and representativerngovernment. Proudhon wasrnalso an anarchist. Such sentiments hadrnlittle appeal to those seeking a war to therndeath against all class-enemies and anrniron rule based on historically inevitablernand “sciendfic” principles.rnMarx was not even the first social criticrnin England. That honor goes to the greatrnConservative leader Benjamin Disraeli,rnwhose Sybil, or The Two Nations, publishedrnin 1845, is acknowledged as thernearliest and best “Condition of England”rnnovel. It exposed the plight of the workingrnpoor and the failure of a political eliterncorrupted by commercial greed. Contemptrnfor those who work hard to makernends meet is not a proper conservativerntenet, but one based on the 19th-centuryrnliberal (now called libertarian) embracernof the super-rich as social ideal.rnThe upstart Disraeli split with Toryrnleaders over the issue of “free trade.” Rejectingrnthis core tenet of liberalism, he rebuiltrnthe parfy and restored its principles.rnIn The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirkrncredits Disraeli with “saving [the Tories]rnfrom amalgamation with a utilitarianrnLiberalism.” Today, an errant RepublicanrnParty needs a similar savior. Kirkrngoes on to argue that “the kernel of Disraeli’srnsocial theories, is the idea of the nation.rnRepudiating the social atomism ofrnthe Benthamites, despising the class hostilify’rnof the rising Socialists; he remindedrnEnglishmen that they are not simply anrnaggregation of economic units, not simplyrnsoldiers in a class struggle; they constituterna nation.” As Disraeli himself putrnit, “I am neither a Whig nor Tory. Myrnpolitics are described in one word, andrnthat one word is England.” As the millennimnrncomes to a close, we would bernwise to remember both Disraeli and Kirkrnand carry their ideas forward. If onlyrnmainstream conservatives in this countr’rnstill regarded themselves as Americansrnfirst.rnWilliam R. Hawkins is a visiting fellow atrnthe U.S. Business and Industry Council.rn; # 4 •» # *rnÂ¥,rn&’ ‘-‘-^^o’. ‘^^ i frnHELP THE ROCKFORD INSTITUTE . . . HURT THE IRSrnThere is often a tax advantage in making a gift of appreciatedrnstocks or bonds to T h e Rockford Institute.rnWhen you do, there are two winners: you and ThernRockford Institute. The only loser is the wicked and greedyrntax cciUector.rnHere’s how it works:rnWhen you sell appreciated securities, you are taxed on therncapital gains. However, if you contribute appreciated stocksrnor bonds to The Rockford Institute, the gains are not taxable.rnIn fact, you will receive a charitable deduction for the full,rnfair-market value of the securities as of the date of the gift. Tornqualify, you only have to have held the stocks or bonds forrnmore than one year. Your securities broker can even wire thernshares directly to T h e Rockford Institute’s investmentrnaccount.rnFor more information, please write or call:rnChristopher CheckrnExecutive Vice PresidentrnThe Rockford Institutern928 North Main StreetrnRockford, Illinois 61103rnTelephone (815) 964-5811rnmmrn’%.rn’-‘^Wl” M*””4-^^ ‘rn•(•”•¥ “rn.. ..- ” J^rn48/CHRONICLESrnrnrn