Comments on: William F. Buckley is dead?

By: Chomsky vs Foucault « Entitled to an Opinion

Chomsky vs Foucault « Entitled to an Opinion — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:21:22 +0000

[...] of the Buckley vs Chomsky video (both of which can be found in what I am proud to declare the largest gathering of Buckley obituaries), and then in turn Chomsky vs Foucault (part 2 here). That last one I found via OrgTheory and [...]

By: Libertarianism, Federalism & Conservatism « Entitled to an Opinion

Libertarianism, Federalism & Conservatism « Entitled to an Opinion — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:15:23 +0000

[...] quotes William F. Buckley (whose obit list I am still expanding) saying “Now if, for instance, a society feels that its attachment to [...]

By: Byrne

Byrne — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:39:00 +0000

In the interest of completeness, you may add Becker and Posner to the list: http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/archives/2008/03/william_buckley.html .

(Re?)read God and Man at Yale. It’s amazing what the elites were being taught at an ostensibly conservative institution — Yale’s comparative econ textbook suggested an income tax of 75-99% in the top bracket. Buckley definitely betrayed the South, and the Objectivists, and never seemed to care about the Austrians, but he definitely Stood Athwart History yelling “Look at me! I’m rather conservative, yet likable and mainstream! Perhaps extending the New Deal is less centrist and more radical than you thought!”

By: teageegeepea

teageegeepea — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:15:16 +0000

Some of them are pretty down on him, though I can’t think of many that express the same bitterness that comes from trust and betrayal.

By: turkey

turkey — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 11:55:32 +0000

Are any of those more hateful than Brimelow’s? I can’t be bothered to read any more about how much he loved his boat or his human-engineered loving machines. I want to see people grind the boot.

By: teageegeepea

teageegeepea — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:42:20 +0000

The Old Right existed before Buckley. Buckley himself was inspired by such figures as Nock and Chodorov. Buckley got people to pursue a different version of conservatism, so it might be said that he hijacked the bus and added some major modifications, though it might not have been much of a bus beforehand. Or maybe I should stop trying to extend the metaphor.

By: Byrne

Byrne — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:48:05 +0000

Indeed. But if you look over the list of people feeling sorry that he’s gone, it’s hard to believe that they would all be agreeing on something — not to mention being published in the same magazine — if he hadn’t been around. You’re indulging in the same kind of speculation when you complain about how many people he kicked off the bus, without wondering where the conservative movement would be if he hadn’t built the bus first.

By: teageegeepea

teageegeepea — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:44:35 +0000

It’s really hard to say what would have happened if not for him.

By: Byrne

Byrne — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:24:04 +0000

I’d rather think of him as an organizer than a theorist. He built a political movement — I wouldn’t have read Sailer or Sobran or any of those other edgy types if the National Review hadn’t published them. On utilitarian grounds, he did more good than harm to the conservative ideology, if only by keeping the classics in print longer.