By Richard Heinberg, From Power Down 2004

Neo-conservatism is the intellectual offspring of Leo Strauss (1899-1973), a Jewish scholar who fled Hitler’s Germany and taught political science at the University of Chicago. According to Shadia Drury in LeoStrauss and the American Right, (Grifin 1999), Strauss advocated an essentially Machiavellian approach to governance.

He believed that:
-A leader must perpetually deceive those being ruled. Those who lead are accountable to no overarching system of morals, only to the right of the superior to rule in inferior.

-Religion is the force that binds society together, and is therefore the tool by which the ruler can manipulate the masses (any religion will do)

- Secularism in society is to be suppressed, because it leads to critical thinking and dissent.

- A political system can be stable only if it is united against an external threat, and that if no read threat exists, one should be manufactured

mmm mmm, lovin the the neo-cons