We Are Doomed

On our radio show yesterday we interviewed John Derbyshire, whose new book is We Are Doomed.

Derbyshire is a paleocon, a throwback to the days when conservatism was defined by skepticism about human nature, before Ronald Reagan associated conservatism with sunny optimism. (Although, as Derbyshire argues, Reagan’s optimism was more a matter of style than policy.) In his view, things are going very badly for humanity in general and conservatives in particular.
Derbyshire is an entertaining writer as well as a provocative one; rarely has doom been so enjoyable. He is also an empiricist with a scientific background, so his provocation is always based in fact. As he said on the show yesterday, “Data talks, BS walks.” We Are Doomed is well worth checking out; you have to love a book whose last chapter is titled “The Audacity of Hopelessness.”