The pursuit of freedom is the route to happiness.
The pursuit of freedom is the route to happiness.
N ovember 24 would have been Bill’s 100th birthday, and the release of a new postage stamp in his honor has made his centennial a wee bit of a national celebration. It is the perfect starting course for the 250th anniversary commemoration of the American Founding, in 2026.
One of my favorite speeches of Buckley’s is one he called “What Americanism Seeks to Be,” which he included in a volume, Let Us Talk of Many Things, published in 2000. In that speech, he emphasizes that the “majesty” of the United States Constitution has to do with its putting prohibitions not on people but on the government. It honors human freedom — a gift given by the Creator Himself — and sets up the human being, the citizen, which is the most precious commodity a nation has, for flourishing. About the Bill of Rights, he says,
It grew out of a long, empirical journey, the eternal spark of which, of course, traces to Bethlehem, to that star that magnified man beyond any power of the emperors and gold seekers and legions of soldiers and slaves: a star that implanted in each one of us that essence that separates us from the beasts, and tells us that we were made in the image of God and were meant to be free.
And yet, lost as we are in whatever media frenzy occupies our minds today, to us this can seem like a foreign concept. Everything relies on its being true. There are important matters of life and death and world peace, never mind the peace of our hearts, to discuss and pray for. But bulldozers in the East Wing of the White House, or whatever the scandal of the hour happens to be, usually jump to the front of the line.
Which might be just as well. Maybe these controversies can remind us that politics is not the most important thing. For this whole American experiment to work, we need people of virtue. If we have neighbors who truly want to live the beatitudes, that’s a win. Those who live not only for themselves and the moment but for eternity can inspire in others the kind of living that makes for human flourishing. They are the ones who make for a healthy and thriving culture.
In celebrating Bill Buckley’s 100th, I find myself thinking about Playboy. Which seems somewhat quaint. One of the most interesting relationships of Bill’s life, it could be argued, was the one he had with Hugh Hefner. Bill would famously joke that he did an interview with Playboy so that he could reach his son, but it’s more than a funny line. Bill made something remarkable of that relationship. He had Hefner on his talk show, Firing Line, and on his own terms: WFB made clear that he considered Playboy and its philosophy to be a cultural detriment, most especially to the human family. In turn, Hefner invited Bill to write for Playboy. And what did Buckley write about? Virtue! Charity! Perhaps the last topics you might expect to see discussed in the pages of Playboy.
We are not meant to live for ourselves. Life and love are at their best when we express them through self-sacrifice. There’s joy in the midst of that kind of hardship. Our nation recognizes this, having been founded for the pursuit of freedom, including religious freedom. That’s the route to happiness. The more we remember what we are about, the better off we will all be. And if you can brighten another’s day with a surprise postcard sent from the road — perhaps with a WFB “forever” stamp — even better. Such acts may not be your most important of the day, but they are forms of everyday commitment to our Founding spirit: to look beyond selfish desires and see a fuller view of life.
This column is based on one available through Andrews McMeel Universal’s Newspaper Enterprise Association.