May 11, 2005, 9:46 a.m.
We Need Your Help
Support the Buckley way by giving to NR and NRO.

A couple of people at the Atlanta fundraiser last week commented to me that all of us editors on the platform seemed cheerfully at ease with each other. Yet (these people said) it’s plain there are differences of opinion, including some strong ones, between us. How does it work?

Well, it works by us all being dedicated to National Review. Writing for this magazine and its website NRO isn’t like working for the phone company. We love NR and want to keep alive the flame of Buckleian conservatism — which is not an ideology, with a checklist of things we all believe in, so much as a way of looking at the nation and the world based on some common, but general, attitudes. That way of looking at things, the Buckley way, is what first drew us to the magazine — in my case, nearly 30 years ago now. We think NR is an important voice in the national conversation, and we want that voice to continue to be heard.

For that to happen, both the paper and web operations have to be funded. Advertising is always problematic, because companies don’t want to be identified with some one political point of view, for fear of alienating half their customers. Subscriptions help, but can’t cover costs. There is nothing for us to do but to ask for voluntary support from readers. I know it’s tiresome to be nagged about this, but we have no choice, and our readers have always responded generously to these appeals. We thank you for your past generosity, and ask you to help once again.

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