Today, post-liberal movements on both the Left and the putative Right see these problems and are calling for Classical Liberalism's demise. But do they see the problems we face clearly and accurately?
The attacks on Classical Liberalism come from both the Left and the Right, and they succeed, as Solzhenitsyn put it, "because we do not love freedom enough."
Because we are not God, we cannot know the full nature of God, or even for certainty whether God exists at all. As a result, we cannot know any purpose, including ultimate purpose, each of our lives may have. Because we cannot know the full nature of God, should He exist, nor any purpose our lives may have in His sight, we lack the authority to compel the beliefs of others, lest we lead them into ultimate error.
What is "degrowth"? Well, that's simple. It's not just the newest brand name for the "Net Zero" environmentalist scam; it's Communism rebranded and newly organized for the 21st century.
There is a psychological phenomenon called "reactance" that is triggered when someone is convinced they're likely to lose liberties and freedoms they currently enjoy.
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson famously used a curious phrase to describe man's fundamentally inalienable rights: "among these, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." What many do not know is that Jefferson was riffing off and augmenting a similar formulation from John Locke, who argued that we have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and property.
Progressives, Communists, and the Woke have used this phrasing to drive a wedge in American society for over a century, provoking precisely the type of reaction they need to carry out their plans. Are all men really created equal?
On this episode of my subscribers-only podcast, James Lindsay OnlySubs, we'll talk about the positive branding I found on a Vermont maple syrup bottle and from the no-nonsense farmer who gave it to me: "There's nothing sweeter than Vermont liberty!"
If we continue fighting back—for pushing back is no longer enough—intelligently and firmly against the ideology of Critical Social Justice and the Woke movement it has spawned, we will find ourselves on the road to a post-Woke world, and it is not yet clear what that might look like.