“Mencken’s Conservatism” is the famous essay by Benjamin Marks that we at Mencken.info have judged to be the best possible explanation of Mencken’s philosophy. It corrects implicitly, but obviously, the attempts to explain Mencken by others, in particular those who have made book-length attempts. Here’s the easy-to-scan-and-skip table of contents:
- Abstract
- Introduction and Overview
- Mencken’s Motives and Expectations
- A Pickled Bittersweet Conservatism
- Conservatism and Christianity
- Romanticism Rests on Two False Premises
- Mencken Critical, Not Nihilistic
- Mencken Critical, Not Depressed, Even If Pessimistic
- Mencken’s Utopia
- The Positives of Pessimism
- Conservatism is Timeless
- Expectations Differ to Hopes
- Mencken’s Cynicism
- Abridged Summary
- Conservatism and Libertarians
- Appendix 1: Arguments Mencken Did Not Use That Justify His Position
- Appendix 2: A Menckenian Strategy for Libertarian Reform