This is an important analysis on how the West lost its own head - Liberalism is ill-suited to global governance from one command centre, from sheer principle of its supposed stated goals. As you put it, US-led Liberal design killed itself through a parade of justifications on expansion of state power, without any tangible benefits, until the pretense could not hold up its contradictions.
Perhaps a deeper dive into economic growth and inconsistency between rethoric and the result would be useful, where state is not the only actor monopolising power, but it is the economic monopolies that also politicise themselves when they seek to borrow state powers for their own means. The growing inequality since late 70s has also contributed heavily to the undermining of the supposed equality of political say between citizens.
An excerpt: "The Age of Liberalism – my title notwithstanding - is not dead yet. The ideas that lit up its 18th century youth..... individual liberty and pursuit of happiness, the rule of law, progress through shedding of superstitions and replacing them with science and reason......are still, three centuries on, very much our Western philosophical lodestone....
Now, it is not my intention to rain on this parade of Enlightenment Goods....they can after all be credited with giving us three centuries of the most amazing human flourishing....the best mankind has ever known. My purpose in this Part 3 is to explore certain ‘Bads’ that the Enlightenment seems also to have birthed and to suggest that Liberalism may have, in our time, reached a kind of inflection point wherein its ‘Bads’ may now be starting to outweigh its ‘Goods’. One essential part of the argument I want to lay out is that a part of the success of those Enlightenment ideas was that they hugely benefitted – paradoxically and unwittingly – from the persistence of traditions and social norms against which they had set themselves......."
I just read your welcome to a lament for nations, the ability to make comments is turned off. I think it should be open. This is your opening statement of intent. Let us have a say please.
Good work, author you communicate very well
This is an important analysis on how the West lost its own head - Liberalism is ill-suited to global governance from one command centre, from sheer principle of its supposed stated goals. As you put it, US-led Liberal design killed itself through a parade of justifications on expansion of state power, without any tangible benefits, until the pretense could not hold up its contradictions.
Perhaps a deeper dive into economic growth and inconsistency between rethoric and the result would be useful, where state is not the only actor monopolising power, but it is the economic monopolies that also politicise themselves when they seek to borrow state powers for their own means. The growing inequality since late 70s has also contributed heavily to the undermining of the supposed equality of political say between citizens.
I think you would find this an iteresting read Nathan: https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/has-liberalisms-flame-burned-too
An excerpt: "The Age of Liberalism – my title notwithstanding - is not dead yet. The ideas that lit up its 18th century youth..... individual liberty and pursuit of happiness, the rule of law, progress through shedding of superstitions and replacing them with science and reason......are still, three centuries on, very much our Western philosophical lodestone....
Now, it is not my intention to rain on this parade of Enlightenment Goods....they can after all be credited with giving us three centuries of the most amazing human flourishing....the best mankind has ever known. My purpose in this Part 3 is to explore certain ‘Bads’ that the Enlightenment seems also to have birthed and to suggest that Liberalism may have, in our time, reached a kind of inflection point wherein its ‘Bads’ may now be starting to outweigh its ‘Goods’. One essential part of the argument I want to lay out is that a part of the success of those Enlightenment ideas was that they hugely benefitted – paradoxically and unwittingly – from the persistence of traditions and social norms against which they had set themselves......."
Thank you for the recommendation!
You're welcome...hope you'll subscribe
Absolutely! Happy to see everyone waking up.
I just read your welcome to a lament for nations, the ability to make comments is turned off. I think it should be open. This is your opening statement of intent. Let us have a say please.