My favorite novelist, Walker Percy, warned of his greatest fear for America: that Americans would grow weary. That we would crumble from within; that we would become cynical and withdraw.
Percy spelled out this “fear of seeing America, with all its great strength and beauty and freedom . . . gradually subside into decay through default and be defeated, not by the communist movement, but from within, from weariness, boredom, cynicism, greed and in the end helplessness before its great problems.”
We are not helpless. We must remain active. We cannot become cynical. National Review and National Review Online have not withdrawn. They’re here, every day, with wit and wisdom.
And the National Review team just keeps getting better. I’ve worked with greats. This current NR team is great.
Yes, we face significant challenges today. Be encouraged by the continuing existence of NR and NRO, contributing to the refining of leaders, on all levels, throughout the country and the world. There’s a breadth and depth here that trumps the magazine’s founding years. As I’ve said before, while the vocabulary sure doesn’t rival Bill Buckley’s — and Rich Lowry still doesn’t play the harpsichord – the humor, the balance, and the fun do.
You know this. That’s why you’re here.
While doing the heavy lifting of cultural and political commentary, NR simply doesn’t have the resources of its competitors. It does the work others with resources won’t do. If you want NR to be here tomorrow and ever better, encourage the excellent team there; support their work. I’m a longtime contributor to NRO fundraising drives and urge you to join me.
— William J. Bennett, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 1985 to 1988, is host of Morning in America, a nationally syndicated radio show.