Posted on 12/30/2008 1:41:44 PM PST by BGHater
The last of Samuel Huntington's books -- "Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity," published four years ago -- may have been his most passionate work. It was like that with the celebrated Harvard political scientist, who died last week at 81. He was a man of diffidence and reserve, yet he was always caught up in the political storms of recent decades.
"This book is shaped by my own identities as a patriot and a scholar," he wrote. "As a patriot I am deeply concerned about the unity and strength of my country as a society based on liberty, equality, law and individual rights." Huntington lived the life of his choice, neither seeking controversies, nor ducking them. "Who Are We?" had the signature of this great scholar -- the bold, sweeping assertions sustained by exacting details, and the engagement with the issues of the time.
He wrote in that book of the "American Creed," and of its erosion among the elites. Its key elements -- the English language, Christianity, religious commitment, English concepts of the rule of law, the responsibility of rulers, and the rights of individuals -- he said are derived from the "distinct Anglo-Protestant culture of the founding settlers of America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
A truly great man, scholar, and patriot. RIP.
Not just derided. Forbidden and purged. Huntingdon's story reminds me that tenure protects not only incompetents but patriots who would otherwise be run out of the university by the moonbats who run these asylums.
Very good article by Fouad Ajami. Thanks for posting.
Condolences to Samuel Huntington’s family and friends.
Excellent article
THX for the post.
btt. And RIP Mr Huntington.
“”Huntingdon’s story reminds me that tenure protects not only incompetents but patriots who would otherwise be run out of the university by the moonbats who run these asylums.””
Thank you for making this statement. I recall a time in a faculty meeting making a statement about bowing to the altar of political correctness and several faculty members had a stunned look on their face—actually they looked like they had been gut-shot. Naturally, I did have tenure but the punishment came when it was time for pay raises. For 5 years running I received well below average in spite of being in the top 10% of grant funding within the college. Tenure is no guarantee of a pay raise. Being outspoken has probably cost me somewhere between 50-100K in lost income. The price of free speech is not cheap..
I am not able to do the math when it comes to my own financial losses because of being outspoken but I know I have lost some jobs because of my views. My Yes on Eight vote severed a long standing and mutually beneficially professional relationship. That said, I also think I have been hired by people who had different political beliefs but admired that I was willing to go against the popular view. I am certainly the only conservative involved in most of my music projects, but I am definitely popular. Commies dig me. I bet you have a fan club as well. Conservative Professors are a rarity. My kids would always be super stoked when they had a conservative teacher, especially at the high school or college level. My oldest son thinks he passed finite math because the professor knew he was a conservative and felt like cutting him a break.
Conservatives who think they can “clean up” the universities by getting rid of tenure should know that the only “clean up” would be that all conservatives and even thoughtful leftists who are not quite Marxists would be instantly fired by the neo-Stalinists.
right...then Catholics came along and built hospitals and schools.
Bravo to both of you! I know that it doesn't make up for the money you lost, it's hard not to admire & respect your keeping true to yourselves and your values.
A scholar and a patriot.
Such a rarity these days.
RIP Prof. Huntington.
Yeah, after we fit the Injuns and the Messicans and the grizzly bars, you johnny-come-latelys walk in and want to run the show. Schools and horsepitals, patooey.
Catholics had established missions among the natives, as well, concurrently, I believe, but perhaps not. No, Catholics would not have been about corralling them onto reservations and breaking treaties, but that is another matter.
The reservations were just that, set-asides, to keep the Whites out, as well as keeping the Indians in. Treaties were general statements of principle that were broken far more often by the Indians than by the Whites.
I was razzing ya a bit about the Catholics but my family crossed the continent and had more than their share of conflict with the Indians. I see absolutely nothing to apologize for. If anything, the government showed amazing restraint in dealing with the Indians.
Perhaps nominally. I don't think an authentic Catholic would "kill Indians" except in a just war.
As they say, “you’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.”
I rememeber the American's Creed from highschool but haven't heard of it in decades. I wonder if anyone still learns it or repeats it anymore. Most liberals could not recite it without lying.
Yeah, we know all about how the Catholics treated the Indians of the Caribbean and Central and South America. They would probably have much preferred reservations. Come off it.
Well, perhaps you have something to teach me about this. Can you elaborate?
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