Patrick Deneen is dismayed by George Will's giddy claim that the fracking boom is a victory for conservatism:
We do better to look to more unlikely sources, such as the British conservatism of Roger Scruton, and his forthcoming book Green Philosophy, discussed here by Rod Dreher. Perhaps there is a connection between consuming less, being more in place, and hence being responsible for one’s places and people, and – in turn – less growth in government, more self-reliance and self-governance. Perhaps the prospect of more gas will fuel not a resurgence in conservative values, but their further erosion. Perhaps it’s not the "progressives" who should worry us most; rather, it’s so-called "conservatives" like Will, who seem to be the biggest cheerleaders for fueling a future in which conservatism has almost everything to do with SUV sales and the right to increase childhood diabetes, and exceedingly little to do with conserving things worth saving.
Crunchycon Dreher elaborates:
Since when did conservatism come to associate itself with increasing abundance for its own sake, with no attention paid to the costs of our immoderation? Does Will see it as a victory for conservatism when a morbidly obese family piles food onto its plate at the cheap buffet? Was it a conservative triumph when Americans who didn’t have much savings got mortgages for big houses they couldn’t afford? That’s the logic of Will’s thinking in this column.
The Dish 