Why Liberals Are Losing It

Jul 11, 2026

Upload by Miles

Analyzes why liberalism appears to be in slow decline and how its revival depends on abandoning political extremism. The discussion centers on Adrian Wooldridge’s argument that liberals have misdiagnosed the present by treating moderation and tolerance as retreating virtues. It links liberal self-righteousness and rejectionism to the political success of populists, highlighting immigration, cultural conflicts, and the resulting failure of imagination in an era driven by new power.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages68

Reading Time1 h 45 min

Why Liberals Are Losing It

Causes of liberalism’s decline

Remedies and the role of moderation

MODI NAVIGATES THE STORM A DISPATCH FROM CUBA BY CARLO PIZZATI END OF THESHIV SENA ROAR [www. openthemagazine. com](www. openthemagazine. com) PRGI REGN. NO. HARENG/2023/89741 VOLUME 5 ISSUE 28 WEEKLY 20 JULY 2026 / `100 THE SECOND LIFE OF SANSKRIT BEING CLASSICAL HAS BECOME COOL L O C O M O T I F By S PRASANNARAJAN I WHY LIBERALS ARE LOSING IT T NEVER STOPS: The pursuit of identifying the cause of liberalism’s slow death and ﬁnding words to resurrect it. From aphorism-rich monographs (Mark Lilla’s The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics) to footnote-heavy tomeson the decline and impending demise of an idea that moulded the global order of freedom and modernity, the arc of liberalism has become an endless enquiry, an intellectual urgency for the disillusioned liberals certainly. The profusion caters to the anxieties of its believers, and is perhaps validated by the rule of the brutes riding simulated nationalism and populists who have turned illiberalism into a democratic impulse, the same class Anne Applebaum portrays in Autocracy, Inc.:“Shoredup by technologies and tactics they copy from one another, by their common economic interests, and above all by their determination not to give up power, the autocracies believe that they are winning.”Anew book with atitleasevocative as Centristsof the World Unite!: The Lost Genius of Liberalism (Allen Lane, 416 pages, £25) shows why the pursuit is still a necessary endeavour for those alarmed by the corruption of the ideal. What sets apart the argument of Adrian Wooldridge, aproliﬁc author and journalist, is that, while navigating the debris of the liberal order with historical diligence, he places the causes and remedies not in academic abstracts but in the fearsand pathologiesofthe present. To restore liberal values ina world populated by not just outright hawkersofilliberalism but me-alone nationalists in strictly regulated democracies is to repudiate extremism, for, in the core of an idea that came out of the rejection of the certainties espoused by revolutions as well as religion lies an appreciation of moderation and tolerance. Those virtues are in retreat now. And the culprits are liberals themselves. They have abandoned the liberal position of the“vital centre”and pushed the arguments too fartothe extremes:“Neoliberals got so excited about free markets that they supported the legalisation of drugs regardless of the logic of addiction. Liberal internationalists got so enthusiastic about democracy and human rights that they supported imposing them atthe point of a bayonet in Iraq and Afghanistan. Progressive liberals put so much emphasis on the freedom of the individual that they supported biological men who identiﬁed as women to enter women’s changing rooms or women’s prisons.”This kind of extremism may have enabled the conservative right in America to steal the conversationson social morality and economic justice from the Democrats steeped in identity politics. The liberals, by choosing certainties over ﬂuidity and tribalism over individualism, have begun to resemble the dictatorship of conscience control they have historically raged against. Although Wooldridge doesn’t use that word, self-righteousness has driven liberals to the politics of rejectionism, which makes contempt amoral weapon. He is bang-on:“Liberals instinctively dismiss populist leaders as buffoonsand populist causes as examples of the madness of crowds. Yet populist buffoonshave repeatedly out-thought the professors, populist causes have motivated millions, and liberals have repeatedly found themselves puffing along behind the despised populists, perched on a penny-farthing. Far from burning themselves out, populist parties are setting the agenda for the new politics.” One cardinalsin of liberals which ceded the political space they once owned in the West to populists is seeing immigration asa mandatory virtue of governments. They have not stopped paying the pric

FAQs

What does the article identify as the pursuit driving its discussion?

It focuses on identifying the cause of liberalism’s slow death and finding ways to resurrect it through sharper diagnosis and renewed language.

Why does the article argue liberals are losing ground to populists?

It says liberal self-righteousness and rejectionism helped create contempt as a political tool, while populists motivated millions and set the agenda.

What changes does the article say are necessary for liberalism to recover its “genius”?

It argues liberals must learn to be liberal again—be modest enough to liberate themselves from rigid personal constructs of truth and return to honest engagement with popular sentiments.

Jul 11, 2026

Upload by Miles