Hello Citizens! Once more unto the breach!
Yes, I knew I said I was going to do OpaVote elections from here on it. But I’ve reached the exact number of voters where they charge for elections, and not enough for it to make economic sense, especially given my reading turnover.
So, please vote for one (1) of the candidates in this reading election by making a comment on this post! This election closes at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, June 23rd. Any ties will be broken by Roomie Ed. Don’t feel underqualified to vote! Your Citizenship is your qualification!
This election is my next read in my “readings on the right” slot, where I try to come to grips with the other side of things, ideologically, both out of general interest and a desire for insight as well as “know your enemy” reasons. I read them as the mood takes me, or when I’m tired of other books. The last book in this slot was Friedrich von Hayek’s “The Constitution of Liberty,” chosen by you all!
THE CANDIDATES
William Buckley, God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of “Academic Freedom” (1951) - The book that launched the career of one of the faces of twentieth-century American conservatism, this one takes aim at a big fat duck- notionally progressive higher education, in all of its hypocritical glory. Does young Buckley bag his bird? There’s only one way to find out that I know about.
Albert Jay Nock, Memoirs of a Superfluous Man (1943) - Buckley, in his own turn, was influenced by memoirist, journalist, and educator Albert Jay Nock, arguably the original guy yelling “stop” at history and the guy who invented the term “libertarian” in the (debased) American sense. Among other things, he made a big deal of classical elegance versus modern frippery, so maybe his memoirs will be well-written?
L. Neil Smith, The Probability Broach (1979) - In another vein, there’s this classic of ideological alternate history fiction, involving a libertarian United States, voting gorillas, guns everywhere. A recovered anarcho-capitalist comrade of mine says he couldn’t get through this vein at the height of his libertarianism, and I for one regard that as a challenge!
Vote in the comments!
Well, it was something of a bungled election in a few ways, but the result is clear:
Buckley, “God and Man at Yale” - 0 votes
Nock, “Memoirs of a Superfluous Man” - 0 votes
Smith, “The Probability Broach” - 4 votes
The winner being L. Neil Smith, “The Probability Broach”!
Lol I accidentally sent this to all subscribers! So uh I guess anyone can vote now? Just comment with which of the three you’d like to see me read (first)!