Is here as well. If you have not purchased your book we still have them at the registers. Welcome to politics and prose a time to build. And with the bipartisan politics and then to tear down ese framework looking to them as sources of strength a time to build and the absence of uniting those forces and allowing us of the vitality of the institutions from family and school to churches military. And the Founding Editor director of constitutional settings at the aei contributing editor cofounder and editor of the new atlantis and the great debate the essays and articles have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times and Washington Post of the wall street journal among many others. Please join me welcoming to politics and prose, yuval levin. [applause] thank you very much i appreciate the welcome. Im excited to chat about this book and what it might say and it takes a little work to understand. So whats gone wrong in our country in recent years what we can do about its reasonably clear about what it is isnt as clear as what we can imagine but we are living through we can see from the polarization and the resentmentsa and isolation and alienation and that epidemic of opioid abuse in recent years and very different parts of society we have some common roots is not easy to say but part of that crisis is that we cant quite seem to get a handle on what that is those economic concerns dont cut it. It ended more than a decade ago and now through one of the longest economic expansions with the inflation and interestnt rate rates. And with those enormousis crisis. And they dont offer to be as healthy and safe as they have ever been. And some people argue the frustration are rooted in imaginary grievances. That they themselves and to take these complaints as those gestures of selfindulgence anden gratitude looking over at wealth and health and those complaints on all sides of politics and to be that an discriminant pessimism and to put into a hopeless cause to drain the swamp or empower the charismatic tyrants. But surely these kinds of responses are understandable in part is not just selfdelusion especially that reveals itself in such a broad ptrange of symptoms the happy data is the encouraging Economic Indicators but if this doesnt explain the rating symptoms of our time we should ask ourselves what these indicators might be doingg es or science we might be missing. Those unusual measures of wealth and health as important as they are and they assess the wellbeing on her own but we cannot experience wellbeing at the junctures of individuals that the trouble really shows itself. Many of the struggles seem rooted in relational problems alienation polarization these are the kind of the failures of sociability so how do we explain a crisis of connectednesste cracks it is philosophical or metaphysical because they fail to offer a sufficient vocabulary. Other people say there are traditional measures of growth and prosperity may look fine but the problem is still economic in the deeper sense and contemporary capitalism has a level of inequality making it impossible for equal parts of a larger hole to believe in the legitimacy of Political Economic order people asked to just like external pressures like racism identity politics have left us incapable to hang together and there is some truth to all of these things because they treat the human person as embedded in a larger goal errather social or economic it has to do with the way that we live out but still missing something crucial thinking about our problems in these ways we tend to imagine society and a vast open space as people having trouble linking cans so to level the Playing Field to the narrative there is a missing step so what we are missing is a structured shape to give identity. If American Life was a big open space is not a space filled with individualsle but estate filled institution and if we are failing to foster belongingg more than a failure of connection institutions do a lot more than connect us so in terms of what they are and what they do they look at the crisis in a new light. That is the understanding so what is an institution cracks there are a lot of different academic institutions but let me suggest what draws together to support the problems we confront in society those durable forms of common life the shape and structure of what we do together they are organizations like a corporate form a university or Civic Association that are technically and legally formalized maybe they are shaped by laws or norms or rules without a Corporate Structure we could talk about the institution of marriage or tradition or profession and the rule of law itself is an institution but it keeps its general shape over time so hathat shapes the realm of life it usually changes only very gradually and incrementally in flash mobs dont count but it is a form in the deepest sense of structure and contour the shape of the whole, the organization speaking of the prof on the process not just a bunch of people but to achieve a purpose and to pursue a goal to advance the ideal that they are also formative to structure interactions and as a result they structure us a our expectations and characters andch souls to help to form us in the formative role and how they relate to the social crisis. And with loss of truss and then to paint a very grim picture and in the early 1970s and continues to do it on a regular basis. Into the branches of the federal government and it was plummeted consistently. 80 percent of americans said there was confidence in doctors and hospitals. 37 percent. Forty years ago they had great deal of confidence the last year last one less than 40 percent 60 percent but confidence in Public Schools in the early seventies just about one third did last year. Even one year after Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace those that express confidencens the 12 percent and really wonder who are these people to have confidence in congress. For just all of those institutions the all the major exception that is unmistakable the American Public has gone from extraordinary levels of confidence to striking levels of mistrust. But what do we mean when we say we dont trust institutions cracks it has a lot tost do with what institutions are and do it goes back every Significant Institution carries out an important task of society to enforce the law or serve the poor to make a product and it does that by establishing a structure and the process to accomplish that task. In the process for those to carry out the task effectively and responsibly andd reliably to shape the people within it to be trustworthy we trust the institution that makes the people within it more trustworthy we may trust the Political Institution when it takes seriously the obligation of Public Interest and informs the people in it to do the. Same. And that clearly shaves people to do that we trust the business because it promises the need that we have. We trust the school because it builds culture to make people devoted and we trust the Journalistic Institution because it has high standards of accuracy and that makes the people reliable to lose faith in an institution with that ethical or formative role but when they claim to have that responsibility but instead to shield empower like when a bank cheats its customers that gross a abuse of power obviously undermines the public trust of institution the familiar form of corruption is not new there are plenty of examples in our time and with that distinctive loss of confidence and then a related in different ways and with that purpose and those in the institution no longer see it as a mold of behavior but as a platform for themselves to raise their profile to be seen in society. It seems not to be worthy of our trust because it doesnt even seek to desire it so when we dont think of our formative when the presidency and congress are for political outrage and the university is a venue and it is distinguishable from activism when the Church Becomes a political stage it becomes a lot harder to trust are not asking for our trust just attention a lot of the most significant social and cultural intellectual institutions in the country are in the process of going to this transformation with few exceptions most notably the military the most formative can prove the rule because they are one of the few in which. They are losing faith. And truly those institutions of the 21st century are inherently shaped as a platform. And thaton change of attitude is in the expectation is at the heart of the faith and social crisis because they understood the platforms with the stages to perform on or to shave their character to offer subjects of loyalty sources of legitimacy to build mutual trust. Examples of this transformation is everywhere around us. In many cases they are mated to platforms not just for any performance but the formative virtue and outrage of the vast polarized cultural war so much society is living through. One institution after another people think of themselves as insiders shaped by the integrity of the institution they are in instead of functioning as outsiders this is obvious in politics if there is any doubt donald trump sees the presidency as a stage and he is a performer acting on it rather than the executive to act in it or through it what is hen doing when he tweets displeasure from the department of justice . They work for him. If he hadf a sense of his job shape he would direct the executive branch rather than complain about it maybe its a good thing he doesnt know he can do t that but a sense of his job is another stage for the Reality Television show his life has been many members of congress of both parties run for office less to be involved in legislative work to have a prominent platform to become more visible on cable news or talk radio using mostly as a platform to complain what they work so hard to enter they see that as they are always performing for their audience. No with two Major Political parties anything more than platforms to have a function other than displaying remember the roles of the Political Party is supposed to be think of the profession of journalism the institutional strength on the formative integrity a process of editing and verification to help to be sure what it provides is reliable but constantly stepping outside of those constraints to address the public directly on social media or cable news to build their own brand on a platform rather than participating in the work of institutions on twitter right now you find a lot of professionaler reporters d professionalizing themselves journalist who complain how trump behaves in office should consider if his behavior is relative to the presidency could lead to the behavior to journalism but to play out that selfindulgence of the celebrity version to render them less able to do their appropriate work you can see the same pattern in the academyl just to form portion of the learning a lot of people use the institution as a platform for theatrics version of the c same thing for institutions that exist to be used is that a platforms for political theater with the cachet from those that express themselves we can see that pattern that distortion of institutionalism with a great and asked question of our time given my role how should i behave and a lot of the trouble of the institutions could be described as widespread failure given my role here how should i behave as a member of congress or teacher oris scientist or parent door neighbor what should i do . The people that we most respect asked that question before they make important judgments and i bet the people that drive you w crazy seem somehow to constantly fail to eyask that question so we always find ourselves saying how would they do that cracks its one way to understand the transformation of expectations with a broader set of problems we are dealing with but to anleave with ascendancy institutions can be trusted and are not in the business of earning trust with the belonging and legitimacy. It is one important factor behind the crisis because we arent very good to see institutions grasping at what they are for the only notice that when something is wrong. What do we do about it . We have a fine chapter to diagnose a complicatedap problem the author offers an agenda all we wanted government to do but this book doesnt have a chapter like that because this requires ablem change of mindset looking at responsibility to demolish or uproot and to conclude only outsiders thats why the energy of politics is tearing down powerful establishments but we dont need more outsiders to pretend they areres critics we need more outsiders for their framework and the acceptance of the duties that accompany power those who have the most power need to resist the urge that they are outsidersno but everyone else does too that we should brace for whatever position we hold to ensure those obligations and restraintss protect and empower us to inhabit those institutions love them when necessary to reform them and understand ourselves and to act accordingly and ask ourselvess not just what do i want but what should i do given my role in position it may seem like a small response but how we begin to work to a change of mindset to make a difference if the leaders ask morem often the professionals in many fields more we could trust that expertise to their claims. Are not trustwoh its also important to recognize that there are somee serious reason to be careful and skeptical about institutions in american society. There are a lot of ways institutions can be impressive and limit the freedom of choice they impose hierarchies on us and can be slow to change and hard o to move and be institutionalized racism isnt a metaphor it arose for serious reasons and the argument for transparency for individualism too rigid and imperial institutions. Words like that are serious but we have to see populism and individualism and antiinstitutionalism also involves serious tradeoffs. Institutions canff be impressive and if we cannot do without them. Its true they can reinforce the rule of the strong or the privileged but its also true that without functional institutions, they have no hope of vindicating their rights. They sometimes embody oppression but sometimes embody the highest ideals. To defend institutions is not to defend d the status quo or the privileged. Functional institutions are most important for people who dont have power or privilege. Institutions can become cold and if youre a credit to your essential to attracting on the warmest sentiments without them we grow isolated, alienated, disillusioned. This is the iron irony about the conference now in American Life the failures of the institutions that have led us to demand that they be uprooted or demolished but we cant address the failures without renewing and rebuilding those very institutions. We are right to be setup with them so we needed them to be respectable andd legitimate. Its right that it should guide our reactions against the excess institutional strength in American Life but our problems today are more like excessive institutional weakness so they required the recommitment and reform rather than resentment there is nothing weaker in American Life now than the establishment and i say this because it has to change. Civic and religious life of the common denominator because the people in those institutions have to want them to happen and that means they have to first to see that the way they are not behaving are a big part of the problem and making them impossible to trust are contributing to the profound and destructive set of socialbu t dysfunctions. In one arena after another of the International Life we face the challenge of drawing alienated people back into the institutions and we can point to all kinds of complicated theories to build trust that the simplest way is for the people that inhabit the institutions that is for all of us to try to be more trustworthy and we each can work on it. We can give the institutional responsibilities more time and effort and identity and selfconsciousness and understand ourselves as defined by those institutions that matter most in our own lives and hold up to those ideas and take seriously the forms of integri integrity. For the autonomy of the independent contractor but for the rootedness of the member and partner and the worker and the owner and the citizen there is a word for attitudes like that. The word is devotion what is required of us now is devotion to the work we do together with other people in the service of the common aspiration and therefore devotion to the institution so that we compose and inhabit. That does call for sacrifice and commitment. It calls on each of us to pledge ourselves to an institution we belong to unabashedly to abandon the distance and dispassionate analysis we want objects of devotion to commit to that we dont see what we are looking br is right within our reach. Its easy to be fashionable rebels and harder to remind ourselves of why the poor commitments are worthwhile and that is the kind of case that institutionalism now involved in why it iss so crucial. What i am proposing is a modest change in the stand towards the country and towards the social crisis that confronts the social revolution or political transformation at least not directly at least in the belonging and naming established in our lives and so a greater care about some habits weve entten into that tend to cut us off from them. Theyve left us feeling like theres no one we can trust except the cynicsne and outsides and nothing we can do except register ourur outrage at people and ideas that we disagree with. With. But as with the life of our society would look like without functional institutions but the fact is there are many functional institutions and it could have many more if we devote ourselves to strengthening and reforming those that we are part of and if we respond to the needs and problems by building and rebuilding institutions rather than expressing frustration from the outside thinking and speaking differently about how to live together can make a bigger difference than we might imagine and it can help us see what we have been missing to do what weve been neglecting small steps like those are what make the change is possible. They are constructed so they build upon each other and turn us all into folders. Where they are headed is going to be up to the builders and rebuilders and that