A new book review by The Movie Snob.
The Conservative Sensibility, by George F. Will (2019). This big book (538 pages) is, I suppose, a summing up of famous pundit George Will’s political thinking. His thesis is that the Founders devised the Constitution based on the assumptions that human nature is basically fixed and always contains degrees of ambition and acquisitiveness—thus, the separation of powers. But starting around the beginning of the 20th century, the progressive movement took over and remade the government based on new assumptions: human nature is essentially malleable, modern conditions demand government-by-expert, and we can safely do away with the separation of powers. For his part, Will agrees with the Founders, deplores the rise of the administrative state, and urges the federal judiciary to take a more active role in promoting liberty and restraining the executive branch. He even has kind words for the Supreme Court’s notorious Lochner decision of 1905! And he’s not above making the occasional humorous remark, such as when he refers to one of his previous books as “a book read by dozens.” As the book goes on, he also wanders over other topics such as education, foreign policy, and perhaps most interestingly the question of whether only religious people can really be conservative. (Describing himself as an “amiable, low-wattage atheist,” he naturally answers the question “no.”) The book is a little rambly and a little repetitive, but I still enjoyed it pretty well.
The Movie Court 