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Up From Liberalism Paperback – October 15, 2011
| William F. Buckley Jr. (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Price | New from | Used from |
- Print length224 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherLiterary Licensing, LLC
- Publication dateOctober 15, 2011
- Dimensions5.98 x 0.47 x 9.02 inches
- ISBN-101258119838
- ISBN-13978-1258119836
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Product details
- Publisher : Literary Licensing, LLC (October 15, 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1258119838
- ISBN-13 : 978-1258119836
- Item Weight : 10.7 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.98 x 0.47 x 9.02 inches
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Buckley’s adoration of hierarchy is reminiscent of unspeakable authoritarian rulers such as Augusto Pinochet, Francisco Franco, and Antonio Salazar—all of whom Buckley explicitly praised, the latter in this very book. Look up Buckley’s authoritarian heroes in an encyclopedia, and you’ll often find a section debating whether they were technically fascists or just dictators. Cool!
The primary merit of Up From Liberalism is that Buckley identifies a few of the key problems with his left counterpart. Even today, liberalism is bloodless, procedure-driven, and civility-obsessed. But Buckley doesn’t follow these observations with a call to democracy and liberation from hierarchy as a leftist would. Instead, Buckley writes, “I see no fixed correlation between the democratic society and the just society; and certainly none between the stable society and the democratic society.” To Buckley, the will of the people is a frustrating annoyance unless it coincides with what he wants.
He gets very mad at Eisenhower for losing a debate with a communist (lol), and later can’t quote a liberal at length without inserting bracketed rants. But there’s only so much laughter to be had.
He naively declares that the elimination of social security would result in businesses giving that money to employees (via wages) or consumers (via price cuts), something history has shown to be pure fantasy. He decries academic freedom as a wastefully endless search, because we already have the most important answers. And worst of all, he speaks warmly of the sympathy conservatives should feel for southern whites suddenly expected to end segregation. Suspiciously absent is the corresponding passage detailing his sympathy for black Americans.
This book is a gleaming gem in the crown of ideological evil that has produced the worst politicians of the past 50 years. William F. Buckley is grinning from hell, and I spit back into the void.
It is very discouraging, makes me glad I’m old and will not have to live in the world the liberals are making.
The only silver lining, they will pay
of uni-think where only "progressive" views are allowed. Anyone who disagrees with the official viewpoint is automatically a "Nazi", and is to be dealt with accordingly. No wonder universities are losing millions of dollars from alumni contributions.They should.


