[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"archetype-name-map":3,"thinker-will-wilkinson":100},[4,7,10,13,16,19,22,25,28,31,34,37,40,43,46,49,52,55,58,61,64,67,70,73,76,79,82,85,88,91,94,97],{"slug":5,"name":6},"anarcho-capitalist","Anarcho-Capitalist",{"slug":8,"name":9},"establishment-progressive","Establishment Progressive",{"slug":11,"name":12},"progressive-activist","Progressive Activist",{"slug":14,"name":15},"techno-progressive","Techno-Progressive",{"slug":17,"name":18},"patriotic-progressive","Patriotic Progressive",{"slug":20,"name":21},"conservative-democrat","Conservative Democrat",{"slug":23,"name":24},"moderate-conservative","Moderate Conservative",{"slug":26,"name":27},"reform-conservative","Reform Conservative",{"slug":29,"name":30},"religious-conservative","Religious Conservative",{"slug":32,"name":33},"traditionalist","Traditionalist",{"slug":35,"name":36},"national-populist","National Populist",{"slug":38,"name":39},"left-nationalist","Left Nationalist",{"slug":41,"name":42},"welfare-nationalist","Welfare Nationalist",{"slug":44,"name":45},"moderate-liberal","Moderate Liberal",{"slug":47,"name":48},"pragmatic-centrist","Pragmatic Centrist",{"slug":50,"name":51},"authoritarian-left","Authoritarian Left",{"slug":53,"name":54},"authoritarian-right","Authoritarian Right",{"slug":56,"name":57},"democratic-socialist","Democratic Socialist",{"slug":59,"name":60},"christian-socialist","Christian Socialist",{"slug":62,"name":63},"market-socialist","Market Socialist",{"slug":65,"name":66},"trad-socialist","Trad Socialist",{"slug":68,"name":69},"civil-libertarian","Civil Libertarian",{"slug":71,"name":72},"compassionate-libertarian","Compassionate Libertarian",{"slug":74,"name":75},"left-libertarian","Left Libertarian",{"slug":77,"name":78},"traditional-libertarian","Traditional Libertarian",{"slug":80,"name":81},"classical-liberal","Classical Liberal",{"slug":83,"name":84},"social-liberal","Social Liberal",{"slug":86,"name":87},"national-conservative","National Conservative",{"slug":89,"name":90},"neoconservative","Neoconservative",{"slug":92,"name":93},"techno-authoritarian","Techno-Authoritarian",{"slug":95,"name":96},"independent-thinker","Independent Thinker",{"slug":98,"name":99},"market-liberal","Market Liberal",{"thinker":101,"archetypes":122,"traditions":126},{"id":102,"slug":103,"name":104,"sort_name":105,"birth_year":106,"death_year":107,"nationality":107,"era":107,"one_line":108,"bio":109,"portrait_url":107,"has_portrait":110,"sort_priority":111,"is_living":112,"created_at":113,"updated_at":114,"search_vector":115,"primary_role":116,"secondary_roles":117,"notable_quotes":118,"historical_tensions":119,"plcf_score":107,"mesr_score":107,"dipg_score":107,"cult_score":107,"figure_descriptor":120,"figure_class":121,"editorial_review":112},958,"will-wilkinson","Will Wilkinson","Wilkinson, Will",1973,null,"Will Wilkinson is an American 'liberaltarian' writer who argues that a generous, market-friendly welfare state is the complement — not the enemy — of free markets, open immigration, and economic dynamism","Will Wilkinson is an American writer and commentator known for arguing that classical-liberal and libertarian commitments to markets can be reconciled with the modern welfare state and with broadly progressive social values. Trained in philosophy, he built his reputation through years of writing and research at libertarian and liberal-leaning institutions, including a period at the Cato Institute and later a senior role at the Niskanen Center, and through opinion writing for major outlets. His work sits at the intersection of political philosophy, empirical social science, and public commentary, and he has consistently sought to make abstract debates about liberty, equality, and the size of the state legible to a general readership.\n\nWilkinson is most closely associated with what has been called 'liberaltarianism,' the idea that libertarians should abandon their traditional alliance with the American right and instead recognize that liberal democracies with robust social insurance can be both prosperous and free. In this view, a generous but market-friendly welfare state is not the enemy of economic dynamism but often its complement, providing the security that lets people take risks and accept the disruptions of open markets and immigration. He has drawn on empirical research—including work on the economics of well-being and happiness—to argue that measures of human flourishing do not track a simple small-government ideal, and he has been a persistent advocate for liberal immigration policy and open exchange.\n\nA recurring theme in Wilkinson's later work is the relationship between geography and political polarization. He has argued that the sorting of populations between dense urban areas and less-dense rural ones tracks deep divides in temperament, education, and values, and that this 'density divide' helps explain the alignment of American parties and the intensity of contemporary partisan conflict. This analysis places him among writers who treat cultural psychology and settlement patterns, rather than pure economic self-interest, as central to understanding voting behavior.\n\nAfter his departure from institutional life, Wilkinson has continued as an independent writer, publishing regularly through a newsletter and remaining a distinctive voice for a pragmatic, evidence-oriented liberalism that borrows from both libertarian and progressive traditions. His influence lies less in a single doctrine than in his effort to break down the conventional left-right and libertarian-statist binaries and to argue that a free society and an active state are compatible aims.",false,5,true,"2026-05-04T20:40:51.368746+00:00","2026-07-09T03:53:31.644507+00:00","'abandon':165C 'abstract':133C 'accept':220C 'activ':434C 'advoc':267C 'aim':438C 'align':325C 'allianc':168C 'american':7B,38C,171C,327C 'among':340C 'analysi':337C 'area':302C 'argu':11B,44C,246C,293C,427C 'associ':153C 'behavior':361C 'binari':424C 'borrow':393C 'break':413C 'broad':64C 'built':72C 'call':158C 'cato':93C 'center':103C 'central':357C 'classic':47C 'classical-liber':46C 'close':152C 'comment':41C 'commentari':125C 'commit':51C 'compat':437C 'complement':22B,210C 'conflict':335C 'consist':129C 'contemporari':333C 'continu':370C 'convent':416C 'cultur':344C 'debat':134C 'deep':310C 'democraci':178C 'dens':300C,306C 'densiti':320C 'departur':364C 'disrupt':222C 'distinct':383C 'divid':311C,321C 'doctrin':407C 'drawn':230C 'dynam':33B,206C 'econom':32B,205C,238C,352C 'educ':314C 'effort':411C 'empir':120C,232C 'enemi':25B,203C 'equal':137C 'evid':389C 'evidence-ori':388C 'exchang':274C 'explain':323C 'flourish':251C 'free':27B,188C,430C 'friend':17B,197C 'general':147C 'generous':14B,193C 'geographi':287C 'govern':259C 'happi':244C 'help':322C 'human':250C 'idea':161C 'ideal':260C 'immigr':30B,227C,270C 'includ':88C,234C 'independ':373C 'influenc':401C 'instead':174C 'institut':87C,94C,366C 'insur':182C 'intens':331C 'interest':355C 'intersect':116C 'known':42C 'later':96C,281C 'lean':86C 'left':418C 'left-right':417C 'legibl':144C 'less':305C,403C 'less-dens':304C 'let':215C 'liber':48C,85C,177C,269C,391C 'liberal-lean':84C 'liberaltarian':8B,159C 'libertarian':50C,82C,163C,396C,422C 'libertarian-statist':421C 'liberti':136C 'lie':402C 'life':367C 'major':109C 'make':132C 'market':16B,28B,53C,196C,225C 'market-friend':15B,195C 'measur':248C 'modern':59C 'newslett':379C 'niskanen':102C 'often':208C 'one':308C 'open':29B,224C,273C 'opinion':106C 'orient':390C 'outlet':110C 'parti':328C 'partisan':334C 'pattern':348C 'peopl':216C 'period':90C 'persist':266C 'philosophi':70C,119C 'place':338C 'polar':290C 'polici':271C 'polit':118C,289C 'popul':298C 'pragmat':387C 'progress':65C,398C 'prosper':186C 'provid':211C 'psycholog':345C 'public':124C 'publish':375C 'pure':351C 'rather':349C 'readership':148C 'recogn':175C 'reconcil':56C 'recur':276C 'regular':376C 'relationship':285C 'remain':381C 'reput':74C 'research':80C,233C 'right':172C,419C 'risk':218C 'robust':180C 'role':99C 'rural':307C 'scienc':122C 'secur':213C 'self':354C 'self-interest':353C 'senior':98C 'settlement':347C 'simpl':256C 'singl':406C 'sit':113C 'size':140C 'small':258C 'small-govern':257C 'social':66C,121C,181C 'societi':431C 'sort':296C 'sought':130C 'state':19B,61C,143C,199C,435C 'statist':423C 'take':217C 'tempera':313C 'theme':277C 'track':254C,309C 'tradit':167C,399C 'train':68C 'treat':343C 'understand':359C 'urban':301C 'valu':67C,316C 'view':191C 'voic':384C 'vote':360C 'welfar':18B,60C,198C 'well':241C 'well-b':240C 'wilkinson':2A,4B,35C,149C,279C,368C 'work':112C,235C,282C 'write':78C,107C 'writer':9B,39C,341C,374C 'year':76C","writer",[],[],[],"Writer and policy analyst","media-figure",[123],{"archetype_slug":71,"strength":124,"description":125},7,"When you argue that a market-friendly welfare state is no contradiction in terms, you're taking Wilkinson's 'liberaltarian' turn — the deliberate break from libertarianism's old alliance with the right. That fusion runs straight through your politics.",[]]