George Will Explains the Totalitarian Impulse

Written By James Bacon

Photo credit: Bob TurnerSpeaking to a packed house in the Minor Hall auditorium at the University of Virginia last night, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will traced the rise of the totalitarian movement on college campuses. Contemporary totalitarian thought, which arises from the conviction that human behavior is infinitely malleable and that all ills in society can be traced to flawed institutions and pernicious cultural traits, seeks to control every aspect of human culture. Only by ridding society of those flaws can humanity be perfected and justice achieved. Those hewing to this view, Will opined, invariably seek to enhance the power of government at the expense of individual liberty.Will contrasted the view of a malleable and perfectible man with the notion that there is such a thing as human nature, and that that nature makes humans stubbornly resistant to the efforts of intellectual and political elites to perfect them. From this view arises the doctrine of natural rights and the Jeffersonian idea of government instituted to secure those rights. In this tradition of thought, the rights of individuals supersede the will of the majority.The perfectibility paradigm rules in higher education today. The increasing threats to free speech and free inquiry in academia flow naturally from the conviction that undesirable ideas and cultural traits cause harm by thwarting progress toward a progressive utopia.Read the written version of Will's speech (without digressions) here.UVA TODAY covers the Will speech: "'Free and Fearless Inquiry' Must Prevail on College Campuses, George Will Urges"

James Bacon

After a 25-year career in Virginia journalism, James A. Bacon founded Bacon’s Rebellion in 2002 a blog with the goal of “Reinventing Virginia for the 21st Century.” Its focus is on building more prosperous, livable and sustainable communities. In recent years he has concentrated more on the spread of “woke” ideology in K-12 schools, the criminal justice system, higher education, and medicine.

In 2021, he co-founded The Jefferson Council to preserve free speech, intellectual diversity, and the Jeffersonian legacy at his alma mater the University of Virginia. He previously served as the organization’s executive director, now serving as congributing editor.

Aside from blogging, Bacon writes books. His first was Boomergeddon: How Runaway Deficits Will Bankrupt the Country and Ruin Retirement for Aging Baby Boomers — And What You Can Do About It, followed by Maverick Miner: How E. Morgan Massey Became a Coal Industry Legend and a work of science fiction, Dust Mites: the Siege of Airlock Three.

A Virginian through-and-through, Bacon lives in Richmond with his wife Laura.

https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp/
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