Rush article at The American Conservative

[dapoopa]

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-rush-kept-me-alive/

 

A bit unexpected to see a Rush article at this website...but a nice article nonetheless.

[Wil1972]

Cool article.

[Geddyleegenes]

Thanks for posting the link. Interesting where it's from.

[Narps]

Nice article. I am less surprised where it came from however...

[Rutlefan]

Nice article. I am less surprised where it came from however...

 

This. The American Conservative is a libertarian-leaning website. Why would it be surprising to find someone sympathetic with Rush's ethos. I'm a regular reader of "TAC" and have appreciated other entries by this particular writer (he's written about music before btw). A few interesting descriptions of the website:

 

The American Conservative was founded by Scott McConnell, Patrick Buchanan, and Taki Theodoracopulos in 2002 in opposition to the Iraq War. Daniel Strauss wrote:

The idea of

The American Conservative

was that there were enough who disagreed with mainstream conservatism—

libertarians

,

paleoconservatives

, and

civil libertarian

conservatives, among other dissenters—to warrant such a publication. While other conservative magazines like

National Review

and

The Weekly Standard

marched more or less in lockstep with the

Bush Administration

,

The American Conservative

argued for a different course—sometimes with greater ferocity than the major political magazines on the left.

 

In 2009 Reihan Salam, National Review editor,wrote that the publication had "gained a devoted following as a sharp critic of the conservative mainstream."

 

In 2012 David Brooks, columnist at The New York Times, wrote:

 

 

The American Conservative

has become one of the more dynamic spots on the political Web. Writers like Rod Dreher and Daniel Larison tend to be suspicious of bigness: big corporations, big government, a big military, concentrated power and concentrated wealth. Writers at that Web site, and at the temperamentally aligned

Front Porch Republic

, treasure tight communities and local bonds. They’re alert to the ways capitalism can erode community. Dispositionally, they are more

Walker Percy

than

Pat Robertson

.

Edited December 29, 2018 by Rutlefan

[laughedatbytime]

Nice article. I am less surprised where it came from however...

 

This. The American Conservative is a libertarian-leaning website. Why would it be surprising to find someone sympathetic with Rush's ethos. I'm a regular reader of "TAC" and have appreciated other entries by this particular writer (he's written about music before btw). A few interesting descriptions of the website:

 

The American Conservative was founded by Scott McConnell, Patrick Buchanan, and Taki Theodoracopulos in 2002 in opposition to the Iraq War. Daniel Strauss wrote:

The idea of

The American Conservative

was that there were enough who disagreed with mainstream conservatism—

libertarians

,

paleoconservatives

, and

civil libertarian

conservatives, among other dissenters—to warrant such a publication. While other conservative magazines like

National Review

and

The Weekly Standard

marched more or less in lockstep with the

Bush Administration

,

The American Conservative

argued for a different course—sometimes with greater ferocity than the major political magazines on the left.

 

In 2009 Reihan Salam, National Review editor,wrote that the publication had "gained a devoted following as a sharp critic of the conservative mainstream."

 

In 2012 David Brooks, columnist at The New York Times, wrote:

 

 

The American Conservative

has become one of the more dynamic spots on the political Web. Writers like Rod Dreher and Daniel Larison tend to be suspicious of bigness: big corporations, big government, a big military, concentrated power and concentrated wealth. Writers at that Web site, and at the temperamentally aligned

Front Porch Republic

, treasure tight communities and local bonds. They’re alert to the ways capitalism can erode community. Dispositionally, they are more

Walker Percy

than

Pat Robertson

.

Exactly. The guy wrote a biography of Russell Kirk (a sympathetic one, one must assume considering he occupies a chair honoring him) who is as far, in temperament and policy, about as far from Trump as possible. One wonders though if the author would be as enamored with the present day Peart as much as the one who inspired him back in the 80s.

Edited December 29, 2018 by laughedatbytime

[Principled Man]

One wonders though if the author would be as enamored with the present day Peart as much as the one who inspired him back in the 80s.

 

He may not have been enamored with Neil Peart of the 80's, either. Peart liked some of Ayn Rand's ideas - not necessarily all of them. He was not a total disciple.

[laughedatbytime]

One wonders though if the author would be as enamored with the present day Peart as much as the one who inspired him back in the 80s.

 

He may not have been enamored with Neil Peart of the 80's, either. Peart liked some of Ayn Rand's ideas - not necessarily all of them. He was not a total disciple.

I don't see the author of the article as being particularly a "true disciple of Rand" either; he wouldn't have chosen the songs he did if he was. I think the things that spoke to him most were those he closed the article with, striving for excellence and being yourself, ones not inconsistent with Rand, but not reliant on her philosophy either. If he was drawn to Rush specifically because of Rand he would have chosen other elements of their catalog, rather than the ones that seem to have spoken to him the most, "Tom Sawyer" and "Subdivisions" (along with p/g, on which I don't see any traces of Rand's philosophy.)

Edited December 29, 2018 by laughedatbytime

[MusicHead]

Simply awesome article. Like Mr. Birzer, I spent my formative years inside my headphones whilst reading sci-fi. Good times.

[RushFanForever]

The author of the RUSH article appears to be a prog-rock fan as he's posted pieces on 90's groups Big Big Train and Glass Hammer along with Marillion as well.

 

Progressive-rock in general has probably influenced his political views,

Edited December 29, 2018 by RushFanForever

[Mithrandir]

Great article. Hits home to me in a huge way. My home life was fine, but otherwise Rush affected me like it affected the writer. Edited December 29, 2018 by Mithrandir

[condemned2bfree]

Excellent article. Really struck home.

[Rick N. Backer]

If he was drawn to Rush specifically because of Rand he would have chosen other elements of their catalog, rather than the ones that seem to have spoken to him the most, "Tom Sawyer" and "Subdivisions" (along with p/g, on which I don't see any traces of Rand's philosophy.)

 

Interestingly, GUP does have traces of what caused their musical output to go to pot.

[MusicHead]

Pfft.

[ElfDude]

Very cool article.

 

And interesting comments in here as well. :)

[dapoopa]

I suppose the reason why I was surprised to see this type of article at TAC was the screen time devoted to Obama and Michael Moore in the Time Stand Still movie. Don't mean to turn this into a politics thread...but it did strike me as a bit odd.

 

I was actually surfing around for info on US foreign policy and suddenly there's Geddy...

 

However, given the libertarian leanings of some of Neil's lyrics in the past, I can understand how the author would resonate with the band.

 

I also did enjoy the article. The author found Rush exactly one year before me.

[laughedatbytime]

I suppose the reason why I was surprised to see this type of article at TAC was the screen time devoted to Obama and Michael Moore in the Time Stand Still movie. Don't mean to turn this into a politics thread...but it did strike me as a bit odd.

 

I was actually surfing around for info on US foreign policy and suddenly there's Geddy...

 

However, given the libertarian leanings of some of Neil's lyrics in the past, I can understand how the author would resonate with the band.

 

I also did enjoy the article. The author found Rush exactly one year before me.

Not to be too pedantic, but one of the statements above should read that the "band (or the band's output/lyrics/ethos) would resonate with the author", not the other way around.

[Tony R]

The author of the RUSH article appears to be a prog-rock fan as he's posted pieces on 90's groups Big Big Train and Glass Hammer along with Marillion as well.

 

Progressive-rock in general has probably influenced his political views,

 

I find Prog Rock to be no more political than any other forms of Rock music.

In my opinion, post Moving Puctures, Peart’s lyrics have been more personal observation than political.

 

[Thunder Bay Rush]

Great article... many young dudes went through a similar thing with Rush, or their favourite band, which could have been anyone.