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Evelyn Waugh
About Us

The Tory Bohemian is an occasionally updated diary of activities, review of events and summary of happenings. It will address things seen, people met and sights visited by any one of our authors and contributors (or the Managing Editor himself). It has been put together to provide these traveling writers with one common place -- where they get together, talk about experiences, document incidents, record impressions, share ideas and post information. But it also provides friends and families with a place where they can not only read about the adventures (and mis-adventures) of our writers, but post their own comments, observations and feedback as well.

Profiles
William F. Buckley, Jr.

(1925-2008)


This is a man who forged modern-day American conservatism out of an uneasy alliance among anti-communists, libertarians and Catholic traditionalists. He steered the nascent movement away from the fever swamps, purging it of its paranoid delusions and parochial prejudices, and helped it to become a political force. Buckley made conservatism sexy, smart and sophisticated. He influenced generations of people on the Right and Left with his charm, wit and intelligence and was instrumental in the 1964 Goldwater presidential campaign, as well as in the later candidacies (and victories) of President Reagan.

Buckley's first book, written shortly after graduating from Yale, was a meticulously argued attack on the growing secularization of and anti-market biases at his alma mater. Over the next few years, after working briefly for the Agency, Buckley was a whirlwind of activity -- publishing (with his brother-in-law, L. Brent Bozell) an analysis of the Warren [Supreme] Court, then a defense of Senator McCarthy, further polemical essays, and dozens of other books.

Buckley also founded the bi-weekly magazine, National Review, and helped start an activist organization, an educational foundation and a fellowship society. He started one of the long-running interview shows on television (Firing Line*), wrote a weekly syndicated column and ran for mayor of New York. He also found time to sail widely, taught himself to play the harpsichord and was a regular (along with his wife, Pat) at society functions in Manhattan, Washington and Gstaad.

* The Firing Line archives are housed at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Clips of numerous shows are watchable here.

Thursday
Sep042008

A Personal War of Attrition

I've been working at a multi-lateral, international organization for the past 6 months and while things have gotten better, in some ways, things are getting worse.

That is to say, that as I learn more about my tasks and about the field in which I now work, and as I learn more about historical aspects of the work I am involved in and improve my skills -- in short, as my role improves within my division and among my colleagues, the overall role of the entire division has deteriorated to such a point that everyone feels hamstrung. Almost every day there are new rumors and stories about a request being denied, or the division's budget for 2009 being questioned and then promptly rejected. All trips abroad have been denied and our overall work is increasingly being brought under the supervision of management. In fact, no products can be completed by our division without being previously approved by the management committee. The situation is so dire, so repressive, that it is almost comical.

Behind it all is some kind of personal animosity that management feels towards our division head. Whether it is a problem of personalities or whether race and ethnicity difference have something to do with it, no  one seems to know. What's most likely is that all of those factors are fueling management's drive to make life as difficult as possible for the division head. There is some sympathy for him within the division; at the same time, many people say that he brought it upon himself by not sticking up for himself or his department, for not standing firm and for being, essentially, weak and pliable. It is a horrendous situation overall with only our short-term contracts protecting us from further bullying.

So little by little, drop by drop, dollar by dollar, the managerial powers are hacking away at our division. It is truly a war of attrition -- and some rebellious voices are beginning to whisper conspiratorially about a back-channel plea for help from members of the all-powerful executive board.

Things could get quite interesting.

AuthorJ. Guzman DateThursday, September 4, 2008 at 10:22PM
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