Golden Days

By Jonah Goldberg - October 27, 2005 - National Review Online

Standing with Buckley & co. & at 50 years young

Conservatism in America begins in the 1950s with National Review. If you hear someone talking about the Old Right of the 1930s, and how that's what defines “real conservatism,” you’ve either met a very grumpy agrarian poet, a cape-wearing anarchist with oddly pro-Belgian tendencies, an angry Prussian socialist of some kind, a fusty Whig — or, most likely, someone who simply doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

There are times when Jonah Goldberg gets a little hard to follow. On many of those occassions it is because he is covering a lot of ground fast. This article attempts to laud William F. Buckley, give a history lesson on the foundings of modern conservative thought, and expose the reader to some of the intellectual rationale for the ongoing conservative discussions about what conservatism means. It is a tall order. This article is worthwhile if for nothing else because of its usefullness in explaining the breadth of issues that are impacting conservative thought.

Whether you follow it all or not, this is an important article, as it outlines the reasons that conservatism is still so stimulating intellectually after all this time. A point several people made earlier this year supports this thesis. The major intellectual discussion on governing that is currently happening in America is the debate between two camps in the Republican Party, conservatives and neo-conservatives. Liberals (or progressives if you prefer) have nothing useful to add to the discussion and simply ridicule both.