Jonah Goldberg is a founding editor of National Review Online. He is also a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and a Fox News contributor. He has written two books, “The Tyranny of Cliches” and “Liberal Fascism” both of which have made New York Times best seller list. Goldberg is on campus as the Dow Journalism Program’s Eugene C. Pulliam Fellow. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Jessica, his daughter Lucy, and their puppy Zoe. Compiled by Bailey Pritchett.
What is the movie you think every young person should see?
For political purposes, I’ll say “A Face in the Crowd,” the best movie ever made on populism.
How long have you been a conservative, and have you noticed your values change over time?
Like a lot of people, I had a confused period. I wanted to know what I thought about politics for myself. It didn’t last long. I think I’ve always been a conservative. Being a conservative was rebellious where I grew up, and I always kind of liked that. But my views have changed a lot. I am a lot more libertarian after writing “Liberal Fascism.” Although I think it is an insufficient philosophy, it’s one of the few political philosophies incapable of becoming tyrannical.
Which intellectual figures have influenced your thinking?
The thinker I’m most fascinated with is Joseph Schumpeter. What he understood was what other people in this time don’t which is the when of something is more important than the what of something. Traditional economics thinks about the model, but not how things change over time. I find that really intersting.
College students are stereotyped as liberal. Why do you think that is and what can conservative leaders can do to capture the young American mind?
Realistically, it is that most college students are politically apathetic — which is better than them all being liberal. I think you judge most progressive movements by their utopias. Today, liberalism wants to turn America into a giant college campus where the only real crime is hurting some