Resuscitating Liberalism through Capitalism
I had originally considered entitling this article “The Death of Liberalism”, but it would be in bad taste while the patient is still technically alive on its deathbed. It did not take long for it to be sent there from its pinnacle at the end of the Cold War some thirty-four years ago. Ironically, this was partly caused by remnants of 20th century collectivist ideologies (e.g., Islamic fundamentalism and communism) or variations thereof (e.g., Putin’s and Trump’s nationalism bear striking resemblances to those of the Axis Powers of the 1930s); ideologies which liberalism had mostly defeated by 1992. Even Nazism, which should have been dead and buried after instigating the bloodiest conflict in human history, has made a comeback.
Liberal democracies are under a threat no less existential than those of World War II, but now are in a more precarious position. Unlike then, the British Empire no longer exists (and several of the key nations composing it, such as Egypt and India, have turned to authoritarianism). The United States, once the bastion of individual rights, has all but fallen to MAGA-Christian nationalism. The European Union is under assault from Russia to the east, the U.S. from the west (once, not if, it invades Greenland), and internally by far right movements bankrolled either by Russian taxpayers or MAGA grifters.
Books can (and have) been written about why liberalism is losing. As in all political cases, the causes and effects are varied and complicated. Politics, being the fourth branch of philosophy, is dependent upon the underlying ethics of civilizations which, in turn, is dependent upon its fundamental views of reality and epistemology. If I were to primarily blame one thing in particular, it would be the destructive public education system in the United States, which has produced generations of cognitively impaired whim-worshippers, primed to buy into the cognitive dissonance necessary to support Trump (for more details, please read the article entitled “The Comprachicos” by Ayn Rand).
But focusing exclusively on politics, a significant share of the blame must also be placed on the intellectual leaders of the various modern schools of liberalism. “Liberalism” was born during the Enlightenment, with its fundamental principles firmly grounded (albeit inconsistently) in the idea that individuals have rights and that the purpose of any government is to protect such rights.
Since the end of the 19th Century, liberalism has evolved to the point where it still claims these principles rhetorically, but not in practice. Due to leftist influences ranging from Thomas Rawls to Karl Marx, the attributes of individual rights (an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) have changed from primary to secondary, subservient to the “rights” of collective groups (whether based on economic class, race, religion, sex/sexual orientation, etc.), which have a “right to” violate the rights of other groups as short-range circumstances dictate, so long as it is for the “common good” (which is always subjectively defined).
As such, today’s liberalism stands for a watered-down version of collectivism and it leads to its economic corollary: a mixed economy, with all the accompanying boom and bust cycles which help cause socio-political upheaval. These cycles (such as the Great Recession and “corona-inflation”) harm people who, seeking relief, look for alternatives. Disenchanted with the boom and busts of modern liberalism and primed with cognitive dissonance, the masses are turning to collectivist ideologies, ignoring the long and bloody trail of evidence left by these ideologies when they have been tried.
The current iteration of liberalism is not equipped to combat this. Offering a “watered-down” version of collectivism is like offering an American the choice between imitation Coke and the real deal – they will always choose the latter.
An ideology, whether it is nationalism, communism, or other type of collectivism, cannot be defended against (let alone defeated) by inconsistent ideas. This is the legacy of World War II. Fascism was not defeated, but temporarily put out of fashion. The generations that combated it are mostly extinct; the newer generations, untouched by its horrors, think it deserves another try.
To be defeated, the fundamental principles of collectivism must be attacked and, as its name implies, the most fundamental principle is that the rights of individuals do not exist; only the rights of the collective (which are subjectively defined) exist.
To succeed in this, an ideology which holds as inalienable the right of the individual must be adopted. The only socio-economic system which supports this is laissez-faire capitalism. Liberalism, in order to survive, must return to the principles of its classical roots and, this time, consistently apply them. Government power should not be used to suppress certain individuals (e.g., Black slavery), nor to subsidize or grant favors to economic interests (e.g., the Gilded Age and the Robber Barons). A government should only protect its individual citizens against the initiation of force, leaving all other matters (whether social/religious or economic) to its people.
Conceptually, this is necessary. In practice, it must be courageously implemented, with nothing short of total victory (i.e., breaking the enemy’s will to fight) as its mantra. Applied today, this means that Putin should not be negotiated with (he is beyond reason), contained (he is never satisfied), nor given concessions (which stimulates repeat offenses). He must be defeated, in unequivocal terms, for democratic systems to survive – particularly since this includes defeating his “troll farm”, which is one of the primary purveyors of disinformation and conservative nationalism in the world.
While not at war with Trump (yet), the European Union must start making contingencies for the dissolution of NATO (which will happen when the U.S. invades Greenland) and it should not be ruled out that Europe may be at war with the United States in the near future. It is clearer than ever before that, from its excursions in Venezuela, threats against Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Mexico, and Panama, and proposal to increase the U.S. military budget by 50%, Trump is exporting his brand of authoritarianism to the Western world (including Europe) by the means always resorted to by authoritarianism: force.
(I will be quick to note that Trump is a coward’s idea of a coward and, if stared down by a coalition of the remainder of NATO, would be deterred from seizing Greenland.)
The good news for those on the side of individual rights, it is never too late to change the world (short of a nuclear winter). Collectivism is at odds with reality and each collectivist system sews the seeds of its own destruction. MAGAism will eventually collapse under the weight of its own economic lunacy, as will Putin’s nationalism.
But to press for such collapse and prevent another collectivist ideology from filling the void caused by such (currently, democratic socialism is in the best position to do so), liberalism must return to its classical roots. To leave its deathbed, liberalism needs pure and not tainted medicine. Individualism and capitalism can supply it.
