This is the distinction I wish more people would make:
Liberalism hasn’t “failed” in some grand metaphysical sense. We 've gotten lazy about doing liberalism.
It's not a national asset sitting safely in a glass case. Liberalism requires maintenance work: defending speech you dislike, checking your own tribe’s censorious impulses, taking off your team jersey, and remembering that “my side is right” is not a theory of liberty.
In all seriousness, reclaiming liberalism is key, for within it decisions of a more or less conservative or progressive bent can be assessed for what they are, not simply for what well-heeled special interests want us to think they are.
This is the distinction I wish more people would make:
Liberalism hasn’t “failed” in some grand metaphysical sense. We 've gotten lazy about doing liberalism.
It's not a national asset sitting safely in a glass case. Liberalism requires maintenance work: defending speech you dislike, checking your own tribe’s censorious impulses, taking off your team jersey, and remembering that “my side is right” is not a theory of liberty.
Thanks for posting Helen, I had not seen this.
I always enjoy listening to your musings on liberalism.
And here I thought it was like “inflammable” 😊
In all seriousness, reclaiming liberalism is key, for within it decisions of a more or less conservative or progressive bent can be assessed for what they are, not simply for what well-heeled special interests want us to think they are.
(Cough cough GAC)