A better starting point may be a less discussed book: The Lost History of Liberalism by Helena Rosenblatt: www.amazon.com/Lost-History...
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Thinkers in the liberal tradition used to have a much more expansive view, emphasizing human fallibility, community and ethical responsibilities – not just radical individualism and an overarching emphasis on autonomy.
dec 2, 2024, 5:02 pm • 15 2 • view
They were also diverse: Hayek, for example, should be thought of as a liberal (something today’s progressive would vehemently deny). More important perhaps, though less emphasized by Rosenblatt: they were typically in opposition.
dec 2, 2024, 5:02 pm • 10 0 • view
They were in a position of speaking truth to power in the 18th and 19th centuries. Liberalism was thus, in part, a philosophy of a criticism of how power was exercised by traditional economic and political elites.
dec 2, 2024, 5:02 pm • 10 0 • view
So my hypothesis is that liberalism failed because it came to power and it did not adjust to this new reality. It became too dominant and not sufficiently self-critical. Let me explain this point using the US case, though I believe the story is similar in many other parts of the world...
dec 2, 2024, 5:02 pm • 14 5 • view
... (including Turkey, though in most of the developing world, liberalism never became completely dominant and it often merged with globalism, so creating some similar and some different tensions).
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For the US, in a 1965 book, M. Stanton Evans wrote: “the chief point about the Liberal Establishment is that it is in control.” He was referring to New Deal liberalism.
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Republicans accepted many important tenets of liberalism, from Dwight Eisenhower (who described himself as a “moderate Republican” meaning that he accepted the New Deal) to Nixon (who, despite his conservatism, signed many of the iconic regulations of the era). www.amazon.com/liberal-esta...
dec 2, 2024, 5:02 pm • 4 0 • view
True, the Goldwater-Reagan revolution rolled back some of the New Deal era regulations, reduced taxes, and favored large corporations, but three tenets of New Deal liberalism survived and gradually became stronger:
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(1) cultural liberalism, with emphasis on individualism, autonomy and progressive cultural attitudes (which was weaker in the United States when Democrats were the party of the Deep South and became dominant later);
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(2) the empowerment of educated elites, in the form of both technocracy and meritocracy, but going beyond just technical matters and extending to issues such as moral values; (3) an emphasis on establishing procedures for predictable implementation of laws and regulations.
dec 2, 2024, 5:02 pm • 6 0 • view