I spent a little time trying to think of a conservative who was enthusiastic about Plato, and nobody came immediately to mind.

Ayn Rand despised Plato almost above all others in philosophy. Then again, if you'd called her a "conservative," she would have thrown a brick at you.

The idea of Western culture or civilization is not synonymous with "culture developed by someone who lives in the West."

Another Objectivist defined modern Western civilization this way:

"From the perspective of intellectual and cultural content, Western civilization represents an understanding and acceptance of the following: the laws of logic; the concept of causality and, consequently, of a universe ruled by natural laws intelligible to man; on these foundations, the whole known corpus of the laws of mathematics and science; the individual's self-responsibility based on his free will to choose between good and evil; the value of man above all other species on the basis of his unique possession of the power of reason; the value and competence of the individual human being and his corollary possession of individual rights, among them the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness; the need for limited government and for the individual's freedom from the state; on this entire preceding foundation, the validity of capitalism, with its unprecedented and continuing economic development in terms of division of labor, technological progress, capital accumulation and rising living standards; in addition, the importance of visual arts and literature depicting man as capable of facing the world with confidence in his power to succeed, and music featuring harmony and melody."

- Dr. George Reisman, Professor of Economics at Pepperdine University's School of Business and Management in Los Angeles.

Excerpted from an article, "Education and the Racist Road to Barbarism" in The Intellectual Activist, Volume V, No. 4, April 30, 1990.

I can understand people getting enthusiastic about communism and socialism in the late 1800s and early 20th century.

After almost a century of bitter and lethal experience, including nation-wrecking experiments going on as I write this, there really isn't much excuse for it now.