WE ARE ALL THATCHERITES NOW:

President Bush’s Governing Philosophy (Peter Wehner, February 21, 2005, text of a speech at The Hudson Institute last week)

As the world is moving toward freedom, President Bush believes we must show we are worthy of it here at home. He believes rights must be tethered to responsibilities – and that the public interest depends on private character. In the words of the President, “Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self.” This belief goes back to the ancient Greeks and to the American Founders. It is an old truth – but one that has been often overlooked in these modern times.

Character is formed by habits – and habits are shaped by key institutions: families and schools, communities and places of religious worship. These are the institutions that help give purpose and meaning to our lives – and government cannot be indifferent to them. To cite a line penned by one of this year’s Bradley Prize winners, statecraft is soulcraft.

That is why the President has spoken out often, and eloquently, in defense of marriage as a sacred institution and the foundation of society. It is why he has put the government on the side of supporting safe and stable families, adoption, and responsible fatherhood. It is why he signed into law the most important Federal education reform in history – one that insists on high standards and accountability. It is why faith-based groups are receiving unprecedented support and encouragement. It is why the President has fostered a culture of service and citizenship. And it is why the President is building a culture of life and upholding the dignity of the human person.

There are of course limits to what government can do to shape the habits of the heart. Government is a blunt instrument, and everyone in this room is familiar with the Law of Unintended Consequences. Yet surely we can expect the government to be an ally instead of an adversary when it comes to strengthening vital social institutions – those that provide our children with love and teach them empathy, that instill in them compassion and courage, self-discipline and honesty, respect for others and love of country.

One of the duties of adulthood is to teach future generations what is worthy of their affection and passion, their honor and their allegiance. “What we have loved, others will love, and we will teach them how,” Wordsworth said. And “teaching them how” is preeminently the responsibility of families and schools, communities and houses of worship.

Creating An Ownership Society

Let me now turn to the President's economic agenda. President Bush has made the case that many of our most fundamental systems – the tax code, health care coverage, pension plans, and worker training – were created for a bygone era. The President is committed to transforming these systems so citizens are better prepared to make their own choices and pursue their own dreams. "Whatever else it does," Business Week wrote during the 2004 election, "Bush's throwing down the gauntlet will open one of the more striking debates of the campaign. That's because there's a philosophical gulf between liberals' evocations of social equity and the comfort of a government helping hand vs. conservatives' paeans to individualism and entrepreneurship."

The philosophical underpinning of what President Bush calls the "ownership society" is to provide Americans with a path to greater opportunity, more freedom, and more control over their own lives. This young century will be liberty's century, the President has said, and here at home we will extend the frontiers of freedom. And so the President has embraced the ideas of voluntary personal accounts in which younger workers can save some of their Social Security taxes in order to build a nest egg for retirement; lifetime savings accounts which would allow every American to save as much as $7,500 a year and shield from taxation the investment returns on those savings; health savings accounts, tax-free accounts designed to help individuals save for health expenses; and tax credits for low-income families and individuals to purchase health insurance.

The President has also pledged to reform the current tax code, which he calls “archaic” and “incoherent.” He wants a new tax code that is simpler, fairer, and more pro-growth. Homeownership in America is at an all-time high – and President Bush will build on that achievement. And in almost every realm – education, the federal civil service system, drug treatment programs, foreign aid, and much else – the President is tying public spending to competition and accountability.

Ownership also contributes to community. When people own their own houses, they become vested not just in their property, but their community. It makes people more communally responsible. Ownership also elicits greater commitment and care from owners themselves. “In the history of the world,” it has been said, “no one has ever washed a rented car.”

As I mentioned before, one of the core questions of political philosophy has to do with the habits that government encourages among the citizenry. The aim of the President's policies is to encourage self-reliance and provide greater opportunity.

He believes government should promote market reforms and strengthen liberty – and underlying all of this is the belief that government must begin with the proper conception of the individual. Government's default position should not be to view citizens as wards of the state, but rather as responsible and independent, self-sufficient and upright.

The closest example to what President Bush is attempting to do with his emphasis on an "ownership society” may be found in the policies of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In her remarkable 1992 book The Anatomy of Thatcherism, the political philosopher Shirley Robin Letwin wrote this:

"... the Thatcherite argues that being one's own master -- in the sense of owning one's own home or disposing of one's own property -- provides an incentive to think differently about the world... A Thatcherite … stresses that [ownership and moral attitudes] are connected, and sees in wider individual ownership a useful means of promoting the moral attitudes that Thatcherism seeks to cultivate. Nor is it only independence and self-sufficiency which the Thatcherite hopes to encourage by means of wider ownership. Personal energy and adventurousness, critical components of the vigorous virtues -- are also believed by the Thatcherite to be encouraged by wider ownership."

The President's agenda is an ambitious one – but to quote The Economist magazine, "Mr. Bush is nothing if not ambitious. If his new philosophy endures, he will be a transformative figure in the history of the modern conservative movement."

As the Cold War recedes from memory might we find Margaret Thatcher to have been a more influential figure than Ronald Reagan?

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 21, 2005 5:47 PM