Murray Rothbard If you’ve not had the chance, please check out the Ludwig von Mises website, www.mises.org, as the archival resources available are astounding. This afternoon, I had the chance (as a reward to myself for each final exam graded!) to read through one of the site’s free e-books, Murray Rothbard’s Strictly Confidential: [...]
Russell Kirk “This present life here below, Kirk had perceived often in his mind’s eye, is an ephemeral existence, precarious, as in an arena rather than upon a stage: some men are meant to be gladiators or knights-errant, not mere strolling players,” Russell Kirk wrote, using the third person in reference to himself, [...]
This past Saturday, I had a meaningful time with Vigen Guroian, Annette Kirk, George Nash, Doug Minson, and a number of very bright students from the University of Virginia and from Central Michigan University. After the best lecture that I have ever seen George Nash deliver (and, he’s always quite good), Vigen brilliantly led us [...]
The following 1950 quote from Russell Kirk [“How Dead is Edmund Burke?,” Queen’s Quarterly 57 (1950): 162] made me think of our recent conversation on the power of Ayn Rand to attract strong, young minds, eager for Truth. Men of conservative impulse are numerous in every society; they are among us today, but most of [...]
(Part I link) What finally made me question Rand, though, was an essay she wrote on why an Objectivist would be pro-choice on the abortion issue. For whatever reason, this hit me as absurd and hypocritical on her part. It seemed (and still does) to contradict the best of what she believed and promoted. Again, [...]
National Review’s cover featured a very captivating art-deco style rendering of Ayn Rand. Whether intentional or not (and most likely it is), the portrait divides Rand’s face in manichaen fashion, half light, half dark. Though the article, “Ayn Rand Reconsidered: A Greatness Stunted by Hate,” by Jason Steorts, is relatively short, it packs a serious [...]
Highly recommended for those who can stomach it: Jim Otteson's post at Pileus. Books on the topic of this essay may be found in The Imaginative Conservative Bookstore. The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain [...]
Our editor has done an excellent job of using Russell Kirk’s words to show both the danger and the attraction of libertarianism for conservatives. The essay on Freud and the academy shows, I think, the nature of the common enemy conservatives share with libertarians. No conservative wants to be coddled, or to have his children [...]
Dr. Kirk uses strong words to oppose a conservative alliance with libertarians. In light of the recent discussion of this issue on this online journal I think it may prove fruitful to let Dr. Kirk join the conversation by way of excerpts from his essay “Chirping Sectaries.” The entire essay is well worth reading. Is [...]
Thanks, Winston (and Bruce). A few, random thoughts regarding the current essays. Conservatism, as I see it, can do little in this world of sorrows without allies. An alliance of the humane right—those who oppose the growth of Leviathan, Demos, and Mars at home and abroad—seems nothing short of prudent. Conservatives, libertarians, Catholics, Jews, Protestants, [...]