Hey there Little Bill! Long time no see!
How can one dislike a book that dislikes what one dislikes?
By all means, Little Bill, do read Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France yourself. As Scruton points out, the book is about conservatism vs. progressivism (revolution):
To be a conservative, I was told, was to be on the side of age against youth, the past against the future, authority against innovation, the structures against spontaneity and life. It was enough to understand this, to recognize that one had no choice, as a free-thinking intellectual, save to reject conservatism. The choice remaining was between reform and revolution. Do we improve society bit by bit, or do we rub it out and start again?The French revolution was about "rubbing society out" and starting over, from scratch. In the process, human beings devolved into animals: There was nothing left after France was laid waste that could serve as a support to human beings. Everybody was free to "do his own thing" (even quite monstrous things); but then it turned out that only "bestial things" could then be done. (Which is an insult to animals really -- I'm sorry for that; but these humans were "worse" than animals. Animals are incapable of bad will or evil motives....)
The horrors that Burke depicts are monstrous, chilling. Plus Reflections is one of the most eloquent defenses ever written about the millennia-old conservative political (and social) philosophy.
I couldn't recommend the book more highly. And Roger Scruton is a wonderful read in his own right!
Well, well, well, a "blast from the past" for Betty Boop. I can't remember where I saw this: probably on someone;s FR profile page, and I decided to bump it to the top.I thought it was way more current than its original appearance, since I know I read it recently. It might yet get a little more attention that it has so far today. And the REALLY interesting thing is that, as I just noticed, it was from EXACTLY four years ago yesterday, when it BTT'd it!!!!
Thank you so much for the book recommendation!