The need for clarity and understanding in a self-governing republic
The festivities and rituals of the Christmas season are splendid. Even as the demands of family life have blossomed to a third and fourth generation, the bracing amount of Advent work has always been for me more than repaid by Yuletide projects, the reaffirmation of faith, and family gatherings.
We can trace many of our treasured Christmas traditions to a revival sparked, in part, by the publication in 1843 of Charles Dickens’s novella A Christmas Carol. I had not seen a stage production of this classic for several years, and so was delighted to attend a recent performance at McCarter Theatre in Princeton. The show was charming and drew my thoughts toward its intriguing premises. The value of seeing things clearly. Noticing our neighbors. Paying attention enough to recognize our own role in the profound blessings and tribulations of this world.
Desiccated Mr. Scrooge has no idea that it is he, not Bob Cratchit, who is profoundly poor. To his credit, the old buzzard pays attention as the ghosts guide him through the stages of his life, helping him to understand the sad implications of his stunted character. The result of such guidance is that Scrooge sees as if for the first time that a good life can be found in a clear apprehension of our past and a reverence for the permanent things. Christians call this an “epiphany.”
As Jack Butler noted in his Christmas-morning book review, Dickens’s tale is a spiritual predecessor of another Christmas gem, Frank Capra’s film It’s a Wonderful Life. In each story, our troubled protagonist is confused about his situation. George Bailey has lived a commendable life, but his despondency hides this reality from him. Ebenezer Scrooge has lived a contemptible life, but his selfishness hides that reality from him. Each man needs guidance — and gets it — from a supernatural source. Christians call them “angels.”
The need for clarity and understanding — the need to see things as they actually are — is acute for each of us. This need is especially important in our roles as citizens of a self-governing republic. History assures us that the manipulation of public feeling through buzzy emotion and tribal appeals leads to dysfunction and despotism. The temptation of such manipulation is perennial, and resistance to it an arduous civic task. While America has advanced toward its founding principles tolerably well for two and a half centuries, there will always be, as Lincoln observed, antagonists to a constitutional order conceived in liberty. There remains considerable doubt whether “any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure.”
The National Review enterprise exists to promote the lapidary principles on which America was founded; to contest such manipulation and to dispel such doubt. In October, we reaffirmed those principles emphatically in the mission statement published in the new, and beautiful, monthly issue of National Review. America’s experiment in self-government may wobble, but through the genius of our constitutional software, it abides. It is the mission of National Review to be a fierce defender of that experiment.
Explaining, reporting, convening, inveighing, and advancing arguments — clarifying, if you will, the facts and the stakes: This is what we do. There was a time, not so long ago, when our grand media enterprises reported news, rather than framed partisan narratives, and when our esteemed academic institutions elucidated the incandescent ideas of civilization, rather than supervised stern programs of indoctrination. In this era of slovenly journalism and educational malpractice, National Review Institute’s devotion to authentic history, reasoned debate, and insightful commentary is invaluable.
Through numerous programs, National Review Institute has become a major force in the promotion of conservative principles of limited government, free enterprise, and national security. In 2023, the cadre of influential NRI fellows was augmented by the intrepid Jim Geraghty, the renowned Amity Shlaes, and the erudite Brian T. Allen. Our phenomenal young writer Dominic Pino supervised a series of monthly essays on National Review Capital Matters to celebrate the 300th birthday of Adam Smith, the father of free-market economics. The William F. Buckley Jr. Prize Dinner was again a luminous triumph, convening the conservative movement to honor Ms. Shlaes and Paul Singer. As we approach the WFB centennial in 2025, NRI’s Buckley Legacy Project is in full swing with initiatives to bring Bill’s work, wit, and wisdom to a new generation.
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It turns out, happily, that angels have indeed visited us, and offered guidance. Our history is replete with their clear and corrective lessons, and is adorned by their vision of justice and freedom. We, like Ebenezer and George, need but to pay heed and learn. Clear thinking, unvarnished assessments, and reference to those timeless lessons: These are the benefactions that National Review Institute brings to the public square. We sing the conservative carol every day, reducing the noise and sharpening the signal, sweeping away the clutter of performative populism and seeking to shine light on the straight path.
Stated plainly, your tax-deductible gifts are essential to our work. On behalf of National Review Institute, I am emboldened to ask you to consider a generous gift to our venerable enterprise. It is needed, and it will be used effectively.
I wish you and yours every good thing in the New Year, and I am honored to stand with each of you in this mighty endeavor.