The Way Back. F. H. Buckley

>

      

      PRAISE FOR

       The Way Back

      “The Way Back makes a persuasive case that social mobility, fundamental to the American Dream, has eroded, and that people both on the left and right need to deal seriously with the problem of inequality. Frank Buckley marshals tremendous data and insight in a compelling study.”

      —FRANCIS FUKUYAMA

      “With his signature combination of erudition, imagination, and wit, F.H. Buckley has produced a game-changing contribution to the inequality literature.”

      —CHRISTOPHER DEMUTH, Hudson Institute

      “Frank Buckley offers a provocative and important commentary on the underlying problems of inequality and immobility. He dissects who’s to blame, what to do, and what not to do—with scholarship, wit, and insight.”

      —ROBERT A. LEVY, Chairman, Cato Institute

      “The Way Back is full of marvelously shrewd observation, as well as scholarship, both aimed at subjects of the greatest importance.”

      —JONATHAN CLARK

      PRAISE FOR

       The Once and Future King

      “A masterpiece.” —American Thinker

      “Compelling—and compellingly readable.” —Reason

      “His prose explodes with energy.” —The Weekly Standard

      “No U.S. political scientist has achieved what F.H. Buckley does in this ambitious book.” —Times Literary Supplement

      © 2016, 2017 by F.H. Buckley

      Preface to the paperback edition © 2017 by F.H. Buckley

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Encounter Books, 900 Broadway, Suite 601,

      New York, New York, 10003.

      First American edition published in 2016 by Encounter Books, an activity of Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc., a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation.

      Encounter Books website address: www.encounterbooks.com

      Manufactured in the United States and printed on acid-free paper. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48—1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).

      First paperback edition published in 2017.

      THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGUED

      THE HARDCOVER EDITION AS FOLLOWS:

      Names: Buckley, F. H. (Francis H.), 1948– author.

      Title: The Way Back: Restoring the Promise of America / F.H. Buckley.

      Description: New York: Encounter Books, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2015028091 | ISBN 9781594039607 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Social mobility—United States. | American Dream. | Elites Social sciences)—United States. | United States—Economic conditions. | United States—Social conditions. | United States—Politics and government.

      Classification: LCC HN90.S65 B83 2016 | DDC 305.5/130973—dc23

      LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015028091

       For Esther, Sarah, and Nick

      Contents

Preface to the Paperback Edition

Acknowledgments

1. Socialist Ends, Capitalist Means

Things We Can’t Change

Legacy Nation

Things We Can Change

PART I

       The Idea of America

2. Up from Aristocracy

Alexander Hamilton Stumbles

An Aristocratic Colony

A Revolution of Ideas

3. The Invention of the American Dream

A Natural Aristocracy

The Transformation of America

The Promise Renewed

PART II

       The Way We Are Now

4. Unequal and Immobile

Inequality

Immobility

Inequality Hardens into Immobility

5. Why Republicans Should Care about Income Immobility

Not Just the Left

The Fragiles Come out to Vote

6. Why Conservatives Should Care about Income