Helping to advance an indispensable mission
In her new biography of the revolutionary entrepreneur Sam Adams, Stacy Schiff notes that the rascally cousin of our second president “plucked ideas from the air with singular lucidity . . . and pinned them to the page.” Simply put, Adams “muscled words into deeds.”
As conservatives, we know that ideas have consequences and that words matter. Of course, not just any ideas, and not just any words, have the power to speak to the better angels of our nature and to sustain institutions of freedom and justice. Since 1955, the National Review mission has been to identify, elucidate, and defend the incandescent ideas of self-government under a Constitution that limits the power of the state and enhances the freedom of every citizen.
In this regard, we stand with President Coolidge, whose Fourth of July address on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence remains one of the most profound statements of the American idea of self-government. President Coolidge asserted in 1926 that, while there had been many changes and many kinds of progress since 1776, nothing had, or could, advance upon the principles of the Declaration:
If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions.
It is regrettable, but not news, that the idea that a government should serve its people and not the other way around remains as revolutionary in the world today as it was when Sam Adams was fomenting rebellion and Calvin Coolidge was enabling prosperity. It is news, but intolerable, that many voices in American political life today seem to believe that laws should be made by unaccountable bureaucrats, that parents should be excluded from the education of their children, that the property of citizens should be redistributed as prizes to favored constituencies, and that justice should be allocated based on identity characteristics. These toxic ideas are, indeed, intolerable to us, and I know they are intolerable to you.
National Review Institute, which owns National Review, was formed to embrace the implacable spirit of Sam Adams and his fellow patriots in the defense of the principles of limited self-government, individual freedom under law, and a culture founded on the timeless values of Western civilization. Stated plainly, NRI exists to advance the indispensable NR mission on numerous fronts; to distribute NR content to many audiences, in many forms, and through numerous channels. NRI is essential to the NR mission and worthy of support. (You can make a year-end, tax-deductible gift to support the work of NRI here).
NRI enables the influential work of twelve NRI Fellows and three young Journalism Fellows. We convene the most consequential actors and thinkers of the conservative movement at the biennial Ideas Summit (March 30 and 31 next year in Washington, D.C.) and at the annual William F. Buckley, Jr. Prize Dinner. Our Regional Partnership Events allow us to support state-based think tanks and bring NRI Fellows to new audiences around the country. NRI’s Burke-to-Buckley Program leads mid-career professionals in six cities through an intensive study of the foundations of conservative thought. The Institute supports long-form journalism in NR, executed by a glittering array of renowned authors.
National Review Capital Matters has become the go-to platform for the explanation and celebration of economic freedom. (Our NRCM conference on innovation and economic growth takes place January 26 in New York.). The WFB Communicators program explores the power of civility and respect in the contest of ideas; on those terms, conservative arguments win. An important NRI undertaking is the Buckley Legacy Project designed to bring Bill’s work and wisdom to a new generation, with a view to his centenary in 2025.
The NRI Fellows, who transmute principles into words which form the basis of deeds, and these NRI programs that distribute those words widely need support. In fact, they depend on your generous support. With your subventions, National Review Institute will continue to be a potent force for the advancement of the conservative ideas that make our country prosperous, strong, decent, and free. Your tax-deductible gift to NRI makes this possible.
There is little doubt that 2023 will be a year of inflection for America; a year that will see the platform built to support auspicious change for conservatism and for our country. National Review Institute sits at the epicenter of the contest that will determine our path forward. Who will lead the conservative movement? What will be the principles we follow? How many fair-minded Americans, young and vintage, can we persuade to join our cause?
It is time for us to channel Sam Adams. He cared little for personal credit or fame; he cared greatly about the substance of American liberty. One contemporary called him “a font of thoughts that breathe and words that burn.”
Well, today, it is National Review Institute that gives breath to those great principles of which President Coolidge spoke; it is NRI Fellows whose words burn away the dystopic fantasies of the Left, which conceives that we can “advance” beyond the eternal principles of ordered liberty.
I ask for your help. I urge you to act timely. As Sam Adams admonished Americans at the hour of our country’s birth, “it is dangerous to be silent.”
Please support National Review Institute, with the most generous gift possible. In so doing, you will help us advance conservatism and the principles of a free and flourishing society.