Ivory Tower Deathmatch

The ButterScotch Threshold has posted a nice dialogue (Part I, Part II) between Noam Chomsky and William F. Buckley, Jr. (who, incidentally, has an interesting article in today's NRO about the "anarchic passion to smash"). While the content of the conversation is nothing new to anyone familiar with these two men, their arguments, as evidenced in the rhetorical devices and styles of each man, provide an excellent microcosm of the larger political climate. Both men are intelligent, and both are articulate and well-meaning. The similarities seem to end there. Buckley, true to his reputation, is rooted firmly in a conservative ideological world where ends justify means and the good fight is always a conceptual fight for freedom and future prosperity. Chomsky, never one to disappoint, is positively unyielding. He allows Buckley no concessions; even on the most niggling of points. It is Chomsky's famous command of fact that ultimately makes him the godfather of what is now known as the "Reality-Based Community". Chomsky argues almost exclusively in the realm of discernable fact. Buckley argues in the realm of theory. The appeal of both is strong, of course, but unfortunately the appeal of theory (especially utopian theory) is stronger. When reality is too overwhelming, the temptation to ignore it becomes equally overwhelming. Ignoring reality can, in such events, become an addiction.