Ave atque vale

William F. Buckley has passed. In tribute, I offer this discussion between Buckley and Noam Chomsky for your viewing pleasure. It's hard to imagine two people with more diametrically opposed political philosophies, and assumptions about the nature of the world. Yet they're having a mostly pleasant discussion. A nice contrast to today's cable shoutfests.



I'll agree with both parties that the world is a complex place. Forty years on, I think Chomsky's analysis is probably prevailing in public opinion. Is it too reductionistic, though? The world is a complex place, but at the bottom of every military action, attack or retreat, we are sure to find imperial interest. I'm not saying it's a silly argument that human beings do nothing good. (I'm surprised there aren't more Calvinists that hold this position. Total depravity and all that.) A problem with the theory, like most conspiracy theories, is that it requires the bad guys to be smarter than they could possibly be.

What do you think?