R.I.P. WFB
Sadly, America has lost one of her last TRUE conservative leaders, I heard William F. Buckley had died this morning at age 82 or 83 (depending on your source). I always admired Mr. Buckley even from a young age when I watched him debate Gore Vidal on Television. Those were halcyon days in this country can you imagine today that the American's attention would be held by the cutting witticism of two intellectuals? I would say that those debates, which were contentious to say the least, in many ways foreshadowed the culture wars that the nation now finds herself enmeshed. Vidal claimed Buckley had committed an illegal act as a teen that may have been fueled by anti-Semitism (Vidal was sued for Libel and withdrew the charges) while Buckley claimed Vidal's novel Myra Breckenridge was a pornographic work, (Read it, but please not if you are younger than 18 or if you are a person of tender sensibilities, and then, you, dear friend, can be the judge). I would say that this reflects the trends in current level of debate, in which the Left defends its blind support of illegal and immoral acts by screaming "meanieeeeeeee" in the general direction of any conservative that would dare to challenge their authority; (if you would like a visual image of this, cut to the last five minutes of the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers {in my opinion this remake far surpasses the OG}).
Here:
And too, there are parallels in Buckley's falling out with the John Birch Society and the general direction in which the Republican Party is headed. It doesn't take a genius of Mr. Buckley's caliber to recognize the similarities of Ron Paul's philosophies to that of the JBS. With all due respect, the conspiracies and cabals imagined by Mr. Paul are not feasible and not plausible, people just can't keep a secret well enough to pull off all of that secret society B.S. Seriously guys, put down your copies of The Crying of Lot 49 and go take a walk, its springtime outside!
The modern conservative movement would do well to distance itself from both the "One World Government" Conspiracy folks and the 700 Club true-believers, both of these groups are no different than the Ultra-Liberals in that both are atavistically reactive toward perceived threats that simply don't exist, i.e. "the homosexual agenda" or "911 Truthers". Instead we need to emphasize the Pro-active, intelligent aspects of the movement so that we can get things done in America, people that are capable of bi-partisanship without a compromise of values. This vision is achievable with a return to Buckley-esque conservative philosophies.
In fact, the only real separation I have with Buckley's general philosophies is with his rejection of objectivism in the mid-1960s. Objectivism's attempt to reduce natural philosophies into axiomatic form seems faulty and unfortunately keeps it bound to nineteenth century thought, however, as a general rule, I hold it to be as valid a systeme as such that I have encountered, I find its lack mercy as a akin to "real" nature as any other school of thought I have thus encountered. But just on principle I reject the Kantian notion that thinking is existence as I can find in reality several examples of the inverse; individuals that do not "think" and yet still manage to exist, largely through the grace and largesse of the rest of us.
A life well-lived indeed:
Here:
And too, there are parallels in Buckley's falling out with the John Birch Society and the general direction in which the Republican Party is headed. It doesn't take a genius of Mr. Buckley's caliber to recognize the similarities of Ron Paul's philosophies to that of the JBS. With all due respect, the conspiracies and cabals imagined by Mr. Paul are not feasible and not plausible, people just can't keep a secret well enough to pull off all of that secret society B.S. Seriously guys, put down your copies of The Crying of Lot 49 and go take a walk, its springtime outside!
The modern conservative movement would do well to distance itself from both the "One World Government" Conspiracy folks and the 700 Club true-believers, both of these groups are no different than the Ultra-Liberals in that both are atavistically reactive toward perceived threats that simply don't exist, i.e. "the homosexual agenda" or "911 Truthers". Instead we need to emphasize the Pro-active, intelligent aspects of the movement so that we can get things done in America, people that are capable of bi-partisanship without a compromise of values. This vision is achievable with a return to Buckley-esque conservative philosophies.
In fact, the only real separation I have with Buckley's general philosophies is with his rejection of objectivism in the mid-1960s. Objectivism's attempt to reduce natural philosophies into axiomatic form seems faulty and unfortunately keeps it bound to nineteenth century thought, however, as a general rule, I hold it to be as valid a systeme as such that I have encountered, I find its lack mercy as a akin to "real" nature as any other school of thought I have thus encountered. But just on principle I reject the Kantian notion that thinking is existence as I can find in reality several examples of the inverse; individuals that do not "think" and yet still manage to exist, largely through the grace and largesse of the rest of us.
A life well-lived indeed: