Buckley's 'God and Man at Yale'

In the 1950s a young man of 25 years of age wrote his first book, the subject of which was his lamentable experience as a student at Yale University. A young William F. Buckley had embarked upon his college career with high hopes and expectations for the revered University but instead found himself disappointed, disheartened, and disillusioned over what our educational system had become. Little did Buckley, or anyone else for that matter, know that this book would burst onto the scene, sending academia spinning on its heels and catapulting the young author into national prominence.

That book is entitled, 'God and Man at Yale,' and you will note that it is available at Amazon.com, one of the advertisers on this blog. Scroll down and look at the left-column ads to find the book, and click on it. You can find the book both new and used at various prices. It is well worth the cost.

This is the definitive work that launched what became known as the conservative movement in America, although the word 'conservative' at the time meant that its adherents, such as Buckley, were more in line with libertarian thought than the current neo-con thinking. Buckley challenged the overt indoctrination rampant in modern academia that propounds a philosophy that is antithetical to the principles of free markets, human liberty and free choice, the exploration and discovery of faith and the freedom to express that faith openly, and other such tenets that are found in none other than the U.S. Constitution.

Buckley, in fact, contended that what he found at Yale was a direct challenge to the principles upon which this nation was founded, and he made his case in such a compelling and eloquent fashion that the halls of academia were sent scurrying for cover in order to plan their offensive. America has never been the same.

Many believe that it was William F. Buckley who laid the modern philosophical groundwork for the triumph of conservatism under Ronald Reagan. If Barry Goldwater was the political voice that led to America's eventual acceptance of conservative principles under Reagan, it was Buckley that provided its intellectual foundation. Known as a relentless debater, he was able through sheer logic and clear rhetoric to lay to waste any argument a liberal could put forth in favor of the growing menace of big government. And he did it without the shrill bullying that is common today but used the power of a disciplined mind to deliver a detailed, logical, and irrefutable challenge to liberalism and provide alternative views to counteract it.

This book is a must-read for any libertarian or conservative.