George Will Does It Again

The man is brilliant - you have to give him that. And a darn great writer. Much of what he says is hogwash, but he says it so convincingly...

George Will's column "Balancing Freedom and Equity" (I love how you have to subscribe to the Wash Post to read it there, but the Strib reprints it free) paints an interesting contrast between conservatives' supposed love of freedom (except when it comes to abortion?) and liberals' supposed love of equity (which is not equality, mind you.)

What I dig: the notion that sometimes we have to choose between the two. It's individual rights vs greater good for the community, all dressed up. And yes, at its foundation, it seems to me that the tension between liberals & conservatives these days is about the balance between freedom & equity.

What I don't get: his baloney about how liberals are supposedly so into dependence on government. He points to all sorts of things to back up that assertion: support for public schools, aversion to privitizing Social Security, any hint of desire for universal health care. Not that these things have anything to do with welfare, which is the real issue conservatives are pointing at when they say "dependence on government."

Favorite line: "Liberalism once argued that large corporate entities of industrial capitalism degraded individuals by breeding dependence, passivity and servility. Conservatism challenges liberalism's blindness about the comparable dangers from the biggest social entity, government."

Dang, he's good. But still can be deconstructed.

First, was it liberals who worried about workers' dependence on big companies? Liberal refers to generous and accepting - it has nothing to do with this type of argument. So maybe Democrats, or Farmer-Labor Party folks got into it, but it's hardly a "liberal" issue and is amusing to see him so blithely paint it as such.

Next, since when is liberalism blind to the dangers of welfare dependence? Who's on the front lines, SEEING the needs of the poor every day? Not many conservatives...

Finally, I don't see conservatives often noting the difference between use of government welfare and dependence on it. It's all called dependence when many - most? - welfare users get on and get right back off. (See the Urban Institute website for some interesting statistics.)

So yes, I still think that much of what he writes is crap. But you have to respect his cleverness and persuasiveness. The man is a master.