{"id":2073768,"date":"2023-10-20T06:03:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T10:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-changing-george-f-will\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T06:09:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T10:09:25","slug":"the-changing-george-f-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-changing-george-f-will\/","title":{"rendered":"George F. Will, constantly evolving."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-changing-george-f-will%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2073768&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>George Will: A Journey of Intellectual Transformation<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Change is life&#8217;s only constant,&#8221; veteran Washington \u2062Post columnist George Will quipped in the introduction of his bestselling \u2062volume on baseball, Men \u200cAt Work. And how true that has\u2064 turned out \u2062to be, not only for\u2062 Will but also for the conservative intellectual\u200c tradition to which\u2063 he has dedicated more than 50 years of his \u200dlife.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I had \u2063the\u2062 chance to sit down with Will earlier this year, and we spoke about his\u200b decadeslong intellectual\u2064 transformation. When \u2064considered within the context of the\u2062 conservative movement&#8217;s own evolution \u2064over that same \u2063period, Will&#8217;s journey is equal parts challenging and insightful, leaving us with yet more questions than answers.<\/p>\n<h3>A Shift in Perspective<\/h3>\n<p>In 1983, Will \u2064published a robust defense of &#8220;strong-government conservatism&#8221; in his acclaimed book, Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government \u200cDoes. Based on\u200b a series\u200b of lectures he \u200cgave at Harvard University two years prior, Will concisely argued\u200b that law is\u2063 not merely concerned with external behavior but rather with the &#8220;inner life of man.&#8221;\u2062 He posited that &#8220;a real conservatism&#8221; is one that uses government to &#8220;cultivate the best persons and the best in\u2063 persons.&#8221; This is done \u2063through legislating morality, a practice that Will \u2064wrote the \u2062state\u200d &#8220;should do \u2062more often.&#8221; And no\u2063 domain of policy was to be immune, \u200bwhether it was social\u200c or\u2064 economic. It all \u2062should act as a\u2062 mode of soulcraft (&#8220;something that shapes and modifies \u200done&#8217;s soul \u2062or core being&#8221;).<\/p>\n<p>But\u200b it is \u2063not that he simply wanted government to engage in soulcraft. Rather, he believed it was \u2064inevitable. The subtitle of\u2063 Statecraft \u2063as Soulcraft, Will noted in our conversation, is What Government Does \u2014 &#8220;not\u2064 what government should do but what government cannot help but do, which is have a shaping effect on the soul.&#8221; The relevant question, then, became what laws would have \u2062the best\u200d molding \u2064effect on\u2063 the soul \u2063rather than\u2063 if it\u2063 is the government&#8217;s proper \u2064role to mold it in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>Statecraft as Soulcraft, Will explained \u2063at the\u200d time, was\u2063 supposed\u2063 to serve as &#8220;an amendment \u2063to current conservatism.&#8221;\u200b He told me that he thought &#8220;conservatism at that time was a little bit too much Milton Friedman,&#8221; and he wanted to emphasize that &#8220;there \u200dwas more to looking \u2062at politics \u2063than\u2063 looking at economic growth, GDP, and happy consumers.&#8221; Additionally, he thought there was a deep defect in America&#8217;s founding philosophy: It \u200cwas too focused on constraining self-interest, among the lowest common denominators of human passions, and\u2063 not enough\u200c on nurturing virtue\u2064 through\u200c law.<\/p>\n<p>But with age, Will came to believe he\u2064 may have been mistaken in his \u200dyounger years. His 2019 tome, The Conservative Sensibility, corrects for what he \u2064saw as his prior errors.<\/p>\n<h3>A New Perspective on the American Founding<\/h3>\n<p>First and foremost, Will has a new perspective on the American founding \u2062and, by extension, what he \u200csees\u2063 the job of conservatives to be. To address the second topic first: It is to conserve the philosophy of the American\u2063 founding and, in so doing,\u200d be &#8220;the custodians of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/while-vilifying-putin-the-eu-punishes-democracy-in-hungary-and-poland\/\" title=\"While Vilifying Putin, The EU Punishes Democracy In Hungary And Poland\">classical liberal tradition<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Will&#8217;s retreat from &#8220;strong-government \u2064conservatism&#8221;\u2064 and toward classical liberalism, he told me, \u2064entails a far more \u2064&#8221;jaundiced \u200dview of government.&#8221; He\u200c arrived at such a view\u200b by seeing firsthand, over many\u2062 decades,\u2063 the ways \u200bin\u200d which expansive\u200b government power is used to enrich those involved with it. &#8220;Elizabeth Warren has \u200ba firm\u200b grip on half a point,&#8221; Will \u200csaid: &#8220;Five of the 10\u2063 wealthiest\u200c counties\u200d in the United States by\u200d per capita income are in the Washington area, which is a lot considering we don&#8217;t make anything except laws, regulations, and trouble.&#8221; It can only be explained, he said, by the trillions of dollars \u2064&#8221;sloshing&#8221; through the area, being diverted every \u2063which \u2062way with significant influence from &#8220;well-funded, well-lawyered interest groups.&#8221; In other \u200cwords, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-changing-george-f-will\/\" title=\"George F. Will, constantly evolving.\">big\u2063 government means \u2062big trouble<\/a>. Seeing the repeated folly of government intervention and expansion allowed him to reevaluate his criticism of the\u2064 American founding as not being ambitious \u200denough. He has seen\u200c what government ambition means\u200d in \u2064practice, and he wants nothing to do with \u2062it.<\/p>\n<p>Intimately connected to this was \u200dhis shift on economics. The market-skeptical Will of\u200b 1983 underestimated, he told me, &#8220;the soulcraft effect of \u2063capitalism.&#8221; The Conservative Sensibility noted that\u2062 a market society \u200d&#8221;does not\u2063 merely make us better off, it \u2062makes us better.&#8221; How? He said, &#8220;It \u2064produces a \u200dcertain kind of citizen and\u200d a \u200dcertain kind of society. The shorthand is, it produces a\u2064 polite society, a cooperative society, a society that doesn&#8217;t \u2063just presuppose \u200dtrust, it enkindles trust.&#8221;\u200b This means a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-dan-bongino-on-the-future-of-parler-and-governments-role-in-tech\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: Dan Bongino on the Future of Parler and Government\u2019s Role in Tech\">laissez-faire approach<\/a> to economics actually promotes virtue. These \u2062days, &#8220;I\u2062 take my Milton Friedman straight and on \u2062the rocks,&#8221; Will said, underscoring the shift with \u200dhis characteristic wit.<\/p>\n<h3>A Changing Conservative Movement<\/h3>\n<p>What, then, in Will&#8217;s thinking has stayed the same?\u2062 He believes today,\u2063 just as he did in 1983, that \u200cgovernment shapes the inner soul of the individual person and that soulcraft is the inevitable consequence of statecraft. Consequently, the phrase &#8220;value-neutral \u2062government&#8221;\u2063 is a &#8220;contradiction in terms.&#8221; But\u200d as a practical matter, on general grounds of rule utilitarianism, Will believes a\u200b more \u2062&#8221;hands-off approach&#8221; \u2062results in more favorable outcomes. He came\u200c to believe the spontaneous order of an\u200c open society promotes the virtues he \u2063sees\u2062 as crucial. \u2063But by achieving those virtues through only limited intervention, it is far more likely \u200dto succeed.<\/p>\n<p>Succinctly, the\u200c George\u2064 Will of 1983 \u2062is not the George Will of 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Nor was the conservative \u200dmovement of 1983 the conservative movement of 2023. \u2064After all,\u2063 Will&#8217;s shift did not happen in \u2064a vacuum. In the same period that he went from a Burkean to a Madisonian, the rest of the conservative movement had its own\u200c transformation that was drastically different in kind.<\/p>\n<p>In the early Reagan years, Will said, \u200dthe conservative movement\u200c could be characterized by the beliefs that &#8220;the \u2063&#8217;60s and &#8217;70s had been full of self-refuting experiments&#8221; and \u2064that &#8220;if government \u2062would\u200b get out of the \u200bway of the creative \u2063energies of the\u2064 American people, [then] wonderful things were going to happen.&#8221; There\u200c was a \u200dtype of optimism that was at least partially \u200da \u2063product of Reagan&#8217;s\u2063 personality. Matthew Continetti pointed out in his book The Right:\u2064 The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism that Reagan &#8220;believed\u200d in the innate goodness \u2063of people,&#8221; &#8220;had an uncanny ability to shrug off bad news,&#8221; and &#8220;distilled his approach in simple, clarifying language.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But that era is now long gone. Today, there is &#8220;an itch on the \u2064part of conservatives to match\u200d the progressives in using government to advance the conservative agenda by punishing \u2064the liberal agenda,&#8221; Will said. \u2062They want to \u200cemulate the liberals in &#8220;gain[ing] power \u200cso they can wield it and wield it \u2063with a firm smack.&#8221; There is also a move toward \u2064interventionist economic policy among the\u200d ascendant \u2064&#8221;New Right&#8221; coalition, \u200caimed \u200cat \u200drebuilding Middle America from the top down \u2014 \u2063a position \u200dnot \u200bsubstantially different\u200b in kind from that of liberals.<\/p>\n<p>There \u2062are various compelling reasons that could explain this ideological shift. In his book Alienated America, the Washington Examiner&#8217;s Tim Carney detailed how the collapse \u200dof a vigorous civil society, a \u200bcollapse he argued was brought on by\u200b the dual threats of hyperindividualism and\u200b hypercentralization, led to, well, \u200dalienation. Churches and other community \u2062institutions emptied out. Fewer \u200bpeople were \u2064getting married and \u2063having\u2064 children.\u2064 Anxiety, depression, drug addiction, and suicide rose. The blame was put at the feet \u2063of &#8220;the elites,&#8221; whether it was deserved or not,\u200b and \u200ctherefore, a populist backlash became \u2063almost inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>Will immediately shoots down the \u2063idea there was anything inevitable about the path the conservative movement took. When asked why \u2064he\u200d believed this shift has\u2063 taken place,\u2064 he said that &#8220;we&#8217;d have to have \u2063a deep \u200ddive into the political sociology&#8221;\u200c of the period \u2062since 2000. He added\u200d that no matter the cause,\u200c we can understand the modern Republican Party as being the party of people &#8220;who resent being condescended to,&#8221; are upset with the &#8220;allocation of \u2063status&#8221;\u2062 in American \u200csociety, and &#8220;found in Donald Trump a megaphone, someone\u200b who spoke to that feeling.&#8221; While Will did not specifically outline his views on \u200dthe \u2063root causes, embedded in that\u200b answer seems \u2063to be an adequate explanation for the rise of the &#8220;New Right&#8221; \u200cthat itself is not substantially different than Carney&#8217;s: It tries to address \u2062the phenomena that produced such resentment. The problem is it may also perpetuate that sense of \u2062victimhood in rhetoric\u200b while, \u2062despite its\u2062 promises, having no realistic solution\u2063 for \u2062it in policy. However, classical\u2064 liberalism does not truly have \u200can answer either. It is not clear how the virtues cultivated within the market, for example, do much to promote family,\u200d religion, or community. But\u2063 any real alternative\u200d to the &#8220;New Right&#8221; must have something to say about \u200dthe phenomena \u2062causing its ascent.<\/p>\n<h3>Moving Forward<\/h3>\n<p>It is clear, then, that\u2064 both \u2064Will and the conservative movement have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elon-musk-says-twitter-to-change-logo-adieu-to-all-the-birds\/\" title=\"Elon Musk: Twitter logo to change, bidding farewell to 'all the birds'.\">undergone significant transformations<\/a> since the\u200d early 1980s \u200cyet ended up in quite different places. Will came to believe the dynamism inherent to an open society must be a\u2063 cornerstone of \u200ca distinctly American conservative philosophy. Many others have moved in \u200dthe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/star-parker-inflation-reduction-act-is-the-problem-not-the-solution\/\" title=\"Star Parker: Inflation Reduction Act Is the Problem, Not the Solution\">exact opposite direction<\/a>, closer philosophically to where Will was\u200b in\u2063 1983.<\/p>\n<p>This leaves us with the question of how conservatives with an aversion to the rising intellectual currents, and dominant\u200b political\u200c ones, of today&#8217;s conservative movement ought \u200bto move forward and approach this particular moment. Will had some \u200c&#8221;good news about the bad news.&#8221; &#8220;The bad\u2062 news,&#8221; he said, &#8220;is \u200cthat Donald Trump showed\u200b how one person with no guardrails,\u2063 one person with no inhibitions &#8230;\u200b can change the tone of the\u200d country \u200band raise up a cohort that fills an echo chamber of people like him.&#8221; \u200cWhat this means\u200d on the flip side, though, is \u2064that &#8220;maybe a really \u200bmuch \u2062better kind of person can have a much better kind of effect.&#8221; The basis for such \u200dan idea \u2063lies in\u2062 the\u200d fact that we have a\u200c &#8220;presidential-centric politics \u2062now.&#8221; As such, the president\u2062 has an \u200cincredible \u200cability not only \u200bto reflect the attitude of \u200cthe country \u2062back \u200bon itself but actually shape it as well. In fact, just as government policy cannot help but \u200cshape the soul of the individual \u2063person, so too\u2064 a president cannot help but shape the attitude and tone of the country.<\/p>\n<p>I asked Will if he \u200chad any guidance for young conservatives\u2064 in navigating this moment. In an age in which almost 40% of Gen Zers get \u2063their news from Instagram, Will&#8217;s message is \u2063simple: &#8220;Read the great texts: Tocqueville and the Federalist\u200b Papers.&#8221; And, maybe most importantly, &#8220;If you want\u200d to know basically what \u2063America \u2063is about, you have to immerse yourself in \u200bAbraham Lincoln.&#8221; The great insight that emerges from\u2063 Lincoln&#8217;s \u2064thought\u2064 and career, Will contended, is that &#8220;America is \u2063not about \u200da process, majority rule. \u2062It is about a\u200c condition, liberty.&#8221; And to the extent people forget that certain questions, those concerning \u200cfundamental liberties, are &#8220;beyond the reach of majorities,&#8221; they forget \u200cwhat the substantive \u200bcharacter of America is supposed \u2062to be.<\/p>\n<p>Will&#8217;s insight into \u200cthe \u2064best ways \u2062to \u2063move forward is crucial. It would do us well to internalize them. Yet\u2063 the prospects of Republican\u2062 voters choosing an alternative to\u200c Trump, \u2062or there \u2063being a true renaissance of young people reading the &#8220;great texts,&#8221; seem \u2064to \u2062be \u2063getting worse, not better.\u200d It is \u2064one thing to diagnose what\u2062 has gone wrong and tell people to \u200cdo the opposite. It is an \u2064entirely different thing to have specific, actionable ideas on how to inspire \u2063people\u200c to\u2063 do those things. \u2064It is not clear whether Will, or really anybody, \u200cfor that matter, has brought such ideas to the fore. This is\u2064 quite concerning,\u200d as are many of\u200d the other\u2063 social trends of our era, but only time will tell how things will play\u200d out.<\/p>\n<p>We already know &#8220;change is life&#8217;s only\u2063 constant.&#8221;\u2062 And there is \u2063no reason to think\u200c the next 40 years will be any\u2063 different in that respect \u200bthan the last\u2063 40. But one of \u200dthe final \u2062reflections Will offered in our conversation was that &#8220;in a democracy, it&#8217;s [a system of] persuasion, and therefore, it requires patience.&#8221; And so, as \u2064he eloquently wrote at the end of\u200c The Conservative Sensibility, &#8220;we should \u200dbeat on, boats against many modern currents, borne back ceaselessly toward a still-usable\u200d past.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Jack Elbaum was a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What factors \u200bhave influenced Will&#8217;s shift from strong-government conservatism to classical liberalism and limited government?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u200dNner life \u200bof individuals and society.\u2064 However, his understanding of how government should\u2062 shape\u2064 that inner life\u2064 has \u2062evolved. He no longer sees \u200bgovernment as the solution to all societal problems,\u200c but rather as a potential\u2064 cause of \u2063trouble and corruption\u2064 when it becomes too expansive.<\/p>\n<p>Will&#8217;s journey of intellectual transformation mirrors the evolution of the conservative \u200cmovement over the past few decades.\u200c The movement \u200dhas shifted from\u200c a focus \u2064on\u2063 strong-government \u2064conservatism\u2062 to \u2063a renewed emphasis on classical liberalism and limited government. This change in perspective has been\u200b driven by a reevaluation\u200c of the effects of government intervention and expansion, as well as a recognition of the soulcraft effect of capitalism.<\/p>\n<p>One of the\u2063 key aspects of Will&#8217;s transformation is his new perspective on \u200bthe American founding.\u200b He now sees the\u200c job of conservatives as the custodians of the classical liberal tradition and the philosophy of the founding fathers. This entails a more \u2064jaundiced view of government, recognizing the ways in which expansive government power can be \u200dabused \u2062and lead to corruption. Will&#8217;s own experience in Washington,\u200c D.C., where \u200bhe has \u2062witnessed the wealth\u2064 and influence concentrated \u200cin the hands of those connected to the government, has shaped this perspective.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Will&#8217;s shift\u200d on\u2062 economics is significant. He now recognizes the soulcraft\u2063 effect of capitalism,\u2064 understanding \u200cthat a market society not only\u200c makes individuals\u2062 better off but \u2062also makes them \u2062better. The market promotes\u2062 virtue \u2063and trust, and a\u200d laissez-faire approach to economics can \u200dfoster a polite and cooperative society.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these changes, Will still maintains his belief in the role of government in shaping the inner life\u200c of individuals and society. \u200bHe continues to emphasize\u200c the importance\u200b of law\u200b and the need\u2063 for legislation to cultivate \u200bthe best in people and promote virtue. However, he now approaches this role with caution, recognizing the potential \u2063dangers of \u200cexpansive government power.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, George Will&#8217;s journey of intellectual transformation reflects the \u200bevolving nature\u2064 of the \u2064conservative movement. His shift from strong-government conservatism to classical liberalism and limited government \u2063is driven \u200cby a \u200dreevaluation of the effects of government intervention \u200cand expansion, as\u2064 well as a recognition of the soulcraft effect of capitalism. This \u200btransformation has led to a more jaundiced view of government and a \u2064renewed \u200bfocus on conserving the philosophy of the American founding. Despite these changes, Will still believes in the\u200c role of \u200bgovernment in shaping the \u200dinner life of individuals\u200b and society, but approaches this role with caution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cChange is life\u2019s only constant,\u201d said George Will, a veteran Washington Post columnist. In his bestselling book on baseball, Men At Work, he emphasized the truth of this statement. This rings true not just for Will, but also for the conservative intellectual tradition he has devoted over 50 years to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2073769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2073768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2073768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2073768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2073768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2073769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2073768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2073768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2073768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}