Evening Lecture | George Will: The Political Argument Today

Evening Lecture | "The Political Argument Today" | George Will | Febuary 28, 2011
Few news columnists are as erudite, opinionated, controversial and widely read as Pulitzer Prize-winning writer George F. Will. Will's newspaper column appears twice weekly in 480 newspapers and has been syndicated nationally by The Washington Post Writers Group since 1974. A Newsweek Contributing Editor since 1976, he produces a back page column addressing diverse topics from politics to baseball.

Will writes occasionally for The London Daily Telegraph, is a television news analyst for Capital Cities/ABC News Television Group, and became a founding member of the panel of ABC's "This Week with David Brinkley" in 1981.

In addition to his 1977 Pulitzer for commentary for his newspaper columns, Will was named the best writer on any subject in a 1985 readers' poll conducted by The Washington Journalism Review. In 1979, he was a finalist for the National Magazine Award for essays and criticism. He won the 1978 National Headliner Award for consistently outstanding feature columns, and the 1980 and 1991 Silurian Award for editorial writing. Women in Communications awarded him First Place/Interpretive Column in the 1991 Clarion Awards competition.
Altogether, eight collections of Will's columns have been published, the most recent being "One Man's America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation" (2008). Will has also published three books on political theory, "Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does" (1983), "The New Season: A Spectator's Guide to the 1988 Election" (1987) and "Restoration: Congress, Term Limits and The Recovery of Deliberative Democracy" (1992). In 1990, he published "Men At Work: The Craft of Baseball," which topped The New York Times bestseller list for two months.
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Will was born in Champaign, Illinois in 1941, and educated at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut; Oxford University, and Princeton, where he earned his Ph.D. in politics. He has taught political philosophy at Michigan State, the University of Toronto and Harvard. Will served on the staff of the United States Senate for Gordon Allott (R-CO) from 1970-72. Will lives and works in the Washington, D.C. area.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed are the speaker's own and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Naval War College, the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or any other branch or agency of the U.S. Government.

[@StephenNu9]

This is the sort of talk that we need from George Will. The times really need the references to history and the historical record.

[@tolivr]

Without doubt, Will is this nation's foremost and most intelligent political commentator. Such a pleasure listening to his observations and opinions.

[@jude999]

He is not talking ideals or delusions, but reality.

[@DuffyLew91]

Excellent discussion!

[@charleswarren1901]

What a prescient date for such a speech!

[@57highland]

In every talk, he uses the same joke about his Medicare card ... "Now we'll send the bill to your children." I've watched 4 George Will videos tonight and heard that joke 4 times.

[@LyndseyMacPherson]

I am beset with nostalgia and sadness to hear this talk from before our current president was even a candidate. So much unpleasantness has followed...

[@aon10003]

He doesnt realise that the stimulus today was Friedman idea.

[@joejohn1492]

I enjoy listening to George Will, often disagree with him but always respect his views

[@xerxes2044]

Right, workers decided they didnt want unions. Lol

[@robertwnorrisii9143]

Mr. Will,

[@chris14091975]

thank you for posting , very interesting

[@fredwelf8650]

So, one question is 'does Wisconsin collect union dues for the Unions' or not? Also, does Wisconsin charge public employees for their pensions and healthcare? It seemed that the dispute with Gov Walker was over collective bargaining, but George Will said otherwise. Concerning schools, G. Will described the Coleman and Moynihan reports but did not address why the illegitimacy rate is climbing, the main cause in both reports for underachievement. Concerning Social Security and Medicare, G. Will has a point re: means testing which I think is already somewhat affecting people with state pensions who receive a discounted Social Security check. Lastly, G. Will does not address why the Euro is declining in value. It also seems mysterious why he says that the dollar is losing value because the Fed is "printing money," when the cause of inflation is taxation and printing money simply reflects the amount of money borrowed/lent. When a loan is approved, the money supply increases, otherwise, the fraction of the money supply that is lent would soon exhaust the leveraged funds in each bank.

[@michaelhiggins2562]

The biggest mistake Americans make is "living the full extent of their income."

[@AyaxTelemonio]

HE IS BRILLIANT

[@shawntepitts488]

I'm skeptical

[@ddgallion]

Green Craniate, I suggest you read ‘Depression, War and Cold War’ and ‘Crisis and Leviathan’ by Robert Higgs and published by The Independent Institute. Additionally, I would recommend you read ‘The Great Depression of 1946’ in The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2., which will also refer you to other scholarly works.

[@MCulpa]

Yes you are Yes it is

[@stevemcgee99]

2:20

[@intimacycafe]

But the rich are not investing everything they have... they are spending a very large percentage of it on yachts, caviar, and fifty thousand dollar bottles of wine... Why shouldn't they pay taxes on those kinds of luxurious personal incomes? High income should be the reward for doing business, not tax free high income.