Tag Archives: liberalism

So, here's my hypothesis. The road to serfdom thesis was if not inspired by Lippmann, at least prompted, in part, by him. But Lippmann did not hold the thesis; it is articulated by Knight in his review of Lippmann and (mistakenly) ascribed to Lippmann. Knight, however, thinks there is nothing inevitable about the thesis because he thinks the future is still very much open. I cannot prove that Hayek read Knight's review of Lippmann. (Knight was later a somewhat ambivalent referee for The...

While I agree with most of what Fred Weir writes here, I also think that Putin understands more about the Western liberal tradition that arose during the Enlightenment than Weir thinks. Nor was Russia a stranger to Enlightenment ideas then. Weir is also wrong in thinking that Russia has no liberal tradition. In fact, Russia adopted its own version of the Western liberalism in the period called "the Russian Enlightenment, which adapted Western thought to the situation prevailing at the time...

Milton Friedman was wrong. Capitalism doesn't foster freedom — it produces autocratic workplaces and tyrannical billionaires.... Another paradox of liberalism that arises from economic liberalism and affects social and political liberalism, too.JacobinCapitalist Freedom Is a Farce Rob Larson

Jordan Peterson is the pop philosopher of greatest interest in the US right now. His thought is of interest for that reason, especially for those who like staying au courant. But his is more important in the large picture for why he is regarded as important, especially in a culture in which philosophy is held in low esteem and Ayn Rand is actually considered a notable thinker by serious people in politics.I submit that a major reason for Peterson's popularity is his worldview, rather than...

As the recently much derided “liberal order” ebbs away, what is the ideological constellation that will replace it? The liberal order was often more an idea than a reality and in international politics, often not very liberal at all. But it operated within a series of normative horizons — economic centrism, openness to trade, multiculturalism, and so on. The flagbearers of that order are losing credibility all across the world, for a variety of reasons. Deep misjudgements on inequality,...

Regular readers know (recall) that I believe the second wave of liberalism+ has ended and that it may not survive the present darkness. (In brief: first long wave: 1776-1914; second wave: 1945-2009. Some readers will say, good riddance, and to you I say, I hope you do better.) The present crisis is much visible in our daily politics (and headlines), shifting public norms, and the rising confidence of regimes and thinkers who, again, openly espouse hierarchical, ethnic, zero-sum, eugenic,...

Experts versus populists, bureaucracy versus democracy: Paul Tucker, former deputy governor of the Bank of England and a fellow at Harvard's John F Kennedy School of Government, chooses books that wrestle with the central dilemmas of today's liberal political order…. Important with respect to the paradoxes of liberalism that are are now coming to a head in the conflict between politics as usual and populism. Steven Bannon's chief target was the administrative state, which is bound up in the...

"How can we open a Pandora’s Box?! Who opened this Pandora’s Box in 2008 having accepted, acknowledged and recognized the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo?!" Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told RT’s Sophie Shevardnadze. This has been as influential in influencing the world order as the expansion of NATO toward the borders of Russia and the coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of Ukraine, a coup that was immediately ratified by the West. But Kosovo was...

Frank Li begins up many interesting points and, in my view, gets a lot right in this post. It is worth considering in that it is comparison of systems by a person that knows both the Chinese and American. But Li omits some of the key Western thinking about the philosophical basis of liberalism, which distinguishes individuality from personhood.  A dilemma arises between individuality and personhood. On one hand, individuality is unique and varied and all individuals are clearly not...

Backgrounder in the history of the development of liberalism. While it written from a Libertarian point of view, it is useful in understanding the historical background. For a more thorough treatment although still a summary backgrounder, see the entry on liberalism at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Where it falls short is assuming the John Locke somehow discovered the foundations of genuine liberalism, when the fundamentals emerged in ancient Greece and where treated...