By now, I’m confident most (if not all) of you have seen the latest gambit by what some might classify as the “OG conservative intellectual movement”. Just in case you are not familiar, here is the Freedom Conservativism’s statement of principles. Make no mistake, the statement of principles is really good. It includes a nice, round number of 10 principles (I have to imagine there is an intentional Biblical reference here) that include “Liberty”, “The foundation of prosperity”, and “Freedom of conscience”. The 10 principles stand as bulwarks against the emergence of so-called NatCons in academical circles, to nationalism in our political right (and left), and presumably to the now-established progressive consensus in academia.
For good measure, the leaders of this “working group”, Avik Roy and John Hood, have accumulated an impressive running list of signatories. Don’t take my word for it, just look for yourself. I mean this list really is a who’s who of conservative “thought leaders”, including Grover Norquist, Jeb(!) Bush, the right and honorable Charles C. W. Cooke, Jonah Goldberg, the esteemed theologian Russell Moore, and George Will. The list of impressive figures really is expansive. And let’s be honest for a moment. Any of us would love to count themselves among the list of signatories, because it means “we are important”, at least to someone, somewhere anyway…
… But here is the problem. The list, as impressive as it is, is full of excellent thinkers who by-and-large aren’t actually capable of influencing change in the places that it really matters: academia.
I don’t want to suggest that the work that many of these signatories do isn’t important, of course it is. For instance, the work that ADF is doing on the legal front is essential. You could point to any one of the signatories and defend what they do as important. But the vast majority of what these signatories do is play whack-a-mole against violations of these important core principles they espouse.
If we look closer at the growing list, we find that only ~20 are in positions associated with Universities. Of those, twelve are associated with public policy-type institutes like the Hoover Institute. Seven are at universities that already outwardly espouse or support the Freedom Conservativism principles (and arguably select for students who already agree with these sentiments), for instance Hillsdale College or Ave Maria University. At least one is retired. The remaining few are part of economics programs or law schools. I laud their work and support their efforts. Full stop.
But where are the signatories from any of the major undergraduate institutions? Or more near and dear to my heart, where are the signatories from anything even remotely related to science, technology, engineering, or math? How about the scientists populating the major academic medical centers or major biomedical, physical, and computer science graduate programs? How about the practicing (and teaching) physicians, public health workers, and immunologists/ virologists/ microbiologists who stood up to the establishment during the COVID pandemic and are now being proven right? You might argue that they are few and far between, afraid to put their names on such a list. But you would be wrong. Full disclosure: I submitted my real name, academic title, and a description of the work in the trenches (see below) that I have been doing these last several years in a request to be a signer on the Freedom Conservativism principles document, and…
… I still hear the chorus of crickets laughing at my attempt to be included with such an “esteemed” list.
Ultimately, to have a list primarily populated by thinktank members, opinions columnists, former politicians, and foundation members does a disservice to the people who are really in the trenches doing the work. I will use myself as an example, though I could give you the personal stories of at least a dozen of my colleagues doing the same. I teach, train, and mentor dozens of students each year for much longer than a semester and on a level that is far more interpersonal than I suspect any of the signatories can lay claim to. And contrary to the prevailing narrative, students coming into our elite graduate and medical school training programs (including our own, I’m at two of the most elite institutions in the world) are not woke progressive automatons. I’m not saying it is easy work, it’s called “in the trenches” for a reason. But we are genuinely shaping a generation of people who will populate other elite institutions and the various state and federal government agencies, who will be major decision-makers and influence the generation after them. And I am here to tell you we ARE having an effect. Perhaps the people I mentor and train won’t be the next Charles C. W. Cooke or Yuval Levin (one can only hope…), but I assure you that through our efforts, our mentees and trainees will be far more supportive and defensive of the very principles that the Freedom Conservatives want defended and espoused.
But we need help. Perhaps it sounds petty and desperate, but we need to be acknowledged, supported, held up as members of the “conservative A-list” because frankly, we are doing the work that will have real impact in support of the Freedom Conservativism principles.