Schall explains how the modern world has inverted the rational order of human affairs, devaluing the activities of leisure and placing an exaggerated emphasis on political concerns. Defending the importance of simply wasting time, losing ourselves in play, and Chesterton’s claim that “a thing worth doing is worth doing badly,” Schall contends that the joy that accompanies leisure, festivity, and conviviality gives us a glimpse of the eternal.

Such activities also enable us to get beyond ourselves and are essential if we are to rightly order our worldly concerns. For as Schall reminds us, neither man nor his projects are the highest things in the universe, and it is only by understanding this fact that man can attain his true dignity. We need Congress, Aristotle, and the New York Times — but also Charlie Brown and long aimless bike rides.

Conservatives have won titanic unimaginable victories. It’s time to go have a beer.

[Not a Bud Light, though. Oh, wait … — Ed]