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William F. Buckley

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BlackSabbath

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Can anyone tell me some more about this guy?

He gets occasional abuse on the Von Mises institute site.

I sometimes read this magazine and it is occasionally good but there is often confirmation that conservatives are the enemy. I believe Ayn Rand had a couple of run-ins with William Buckley. He is mentioned in passing in a Leonard Peikoff article on the New Right in "The Voice of Reason" entitled "Religion Vs America".

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadA...le.asp?ID=14087

"Having created such an intellectual counterbalance, Buckley would embark upon a half-century role as the protector of responsible conservatism. In the 1960s, he read the Radical Right out of the movement, expelling the John Birch Society and Ayn Rand cultists from its ranks. (With the 1972 publication of the conspiracy-mongering None Dare Call it Treason, Buckley ran a review entitled, “None Dare Call it Bullshit.”1)"

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Pick a conservative; it doesn't matter who, just find one. Rush Limbaugh, Brent Bozell, Ronald Reagan, whatever. Buckley is one of them. His main interest is being a Catholic. He is rather smart and has a sharp tongue, which is is main claim to fame. Some people out there claim he was "victorious" over Objectivism; at any rate, he was thoroughly anti-Objectivist.

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Bill Buckley was not an intellectual lightweight. He brought to his discussions a very extensive education at the finest schools and a thorough knowledge of History, Political Theory, Literature and Philosophy.

Even when inccrrect, as he often was, he was impressive. But unfortunately he was also addicted to scathing, venomous denounciations. Bucley disliked anyone who was not a blueblood patrician or who dared to enjoin him as an equal. His dislike of Rand rests on these points.

He never missed an opportunity to belittle Rand—several of Buckley's books, for example, reprint his bizarre remark that people read The Fountainhead primarily for its "fornicating bits."

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...Bucley disliked anyone who was not a blueblood patrician or who dared to enjoin him  as an equal.  His dislike of Rand rests on these points. 

I rather doubt that.

The primary basis for his antagonism to AR was that she was an avowed atheist - and in that regard to him not much better than a communist.

In the review of Atlas which appeared in National Review, written by Whittaker Chambers (and which presumably Buckley endorsed), it was asserted that AR's views would lead to concentration camps.

Fred Weiss

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In the review of Atlas which appeared in National Review, written by Whittaker Chambers (and which presumably Buckley endorsed), it was asserted that AR's views would lead to concentration camps.

Didn't Buckley admit that he hadn't read the book at all before he got the former communist spy to smear AR?

Two words to describe Buckley come immediately to mind but I won't say them here.

There was an article at Mises.org that had a quote from a young Buckley saying that he way to beat the Soviet union was to copy it, implementing a draft and nationalizing industry. Unfortunately it's gone now.

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...There was an article at Mises.org that had a quote from a young Buckley saying that he way to beat the Soviet union was to copy it, implementing a draft and nationalizing industry. Unfortunately it's gone now.

Even for Buckley to advocate nationalizing industry would surprise me. Of course if "young" means 13, maybe... :) On the other hand Buckley came from a generation of "conservatives" for whom anti-communism was the primary, not pro-liberty, so I wouldn't consider it entirely out of the question.

However I'm pretty sure I correctly recall the very adult Buckley being a supporter of mandatory "national service" for young people.

Fred Weiss

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  • 1 month later...

Black Sabbath this is what you were looking for.

"...we have to accept Big Government for the duration[he's talking about the cold war]-for neither an offensive nor defensive war can be waged given our present government skills, except through the instrument of a totalitarian bureaucracy within our shores...

And if they[American people] deem Soviet power a menace to our freedom (as I happen to), they will have to support large armies and air forces, atomic energy, central intelligence, war production boards, and attendant of centralization of power in Washington- Even with Truman at the reins of it all."

This is 1952- After Yale- in the Catholic weekly, Commonweal. So he wants a "totalitarian bureaucracy" in America to stand up the the communists.

National Review's opposition to Ayn Rand was more to do with her small government, free market, and more isolationist like foreign policy ideas, than just her Atheism.

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Black Sabbath this is what you were looking for.

<Snip>

National Review's opposition to Ayn Rand was more to do with her small government, free market, and more isolationist like foreign policy ideas, than just her Atheism.

Brilliant! It was only alluded to in the Mises article but that bit was written by someone old enough to know better.

FB indeed. :dough:

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