I mentioned this on another thread a while ago. For reasons I can’t fully explain, I was watching old Firing Line clips on Youtube.
Anyway, there is a fascinating interview there between WFB and Huey P. Newton. Newton is high as a kite, but asks Buckley at what point, “What side would you have been on in 1776?”
Buckley states that he suspects he would have been on Washington’s side but is not sure since - generally speaking - revolutions always lead to violence, chaos, and a new government worse than the former government - regardless of which side wins.
It made me realize that the so-called conservatives who call for revolution are not really conservatives. They are, well, revolutionaries.
And that is ultimately what the civil war was - a revolution that failed. And - as Buckley would have predicted - it left chaos, death, and a worse government in its wake.
“And that is ultimately what the civil war was - a revolution that failed. And - as Buckley would have predicted - it left chaos, death, and a worse government in its wake.”
The is the most important concern of a revolution: If you lose, and you are the ones trying to create a government based on liberty and freedom, then you have left those that do not desire liberty and freedom in a stronger position.
My personal belief is that the entire political situation was about to change. Unfortunately, the war broke out first. The South had every right to demand their rights, and I am not talking about slavery. History is always easy to second guess but we only have today to judge ourselves. We can only hope we make the right decisions and history agrees.