From the always thoughtful and readable Jonathan Rauch in Persuasion; a few excerpts, though the whole article is well worth reading:
Never in my lifetime have criticisms of Locke, Smith, Mill, the British Enlightenment, and the American Founding come from so many different quarters, attacking from so many directions, and sounding so scathing and confident. The liberal tradition was destroyed for its immorality (says the right) and injustice (says the left). They charge that it makes society unfair, politics narcissistic, and truth meaningless.
Most importantly, they accuse liberalism of having lost the trust of the public and liberals….
[Yet] There is currently no viable system that can replicate liberalism’s ability to create knowledge, prosperity, freedom, and peace. Indeed, liberalism has achieved astonishing results, both on its own and compared with all historical alternatives. It is the greatest social technology ever created, far ahead of the next closest technology.
This paradoxical situation has me scratching my head, and I’m not alone. Why is liberalism so widely challenged and attacked, and so defensive and self-doubting, when it has so much to brag about? I increasingly think that we must look for answers not only in the failures of liberalism—although there are certainly some failures—but also in the failures of liberal courage….
i have already done Here are a few claims: Liberalism has delivered stunning results; its potential systemic rivals have not and cannot. Both claims require some definition and defence.
So, start with a basic question: What do we (or at least I) mean by that? liberalism?
Not progressive or moderate left, as the term came to mean in postwar American discourse. Rather, liberalism is liberalism in the tradition of Locke, Kant, and their founders. It is not one idea but a series of ideas with many variations. its center philosophy It means that all people are born free and equal. its operations in principle Includes the rule of law, pluralism, tolerance, minority rights, decentralized power, limited government, and (among other requirements) democratic decision-making. its unique approach social organization is the reliance on impersonal rules and open, decentralized processes to make collective decisions.
Embodying these concepts are three interrelated social systems: liberal democracy make political choices; market capitalism make economic choices; and science and other forms of open critical communication to make epistemic choices (i.e., decisions about truth and knowledge). By transcending tribes, abandoning authoritarianism, replacing rulers with rules, and treating people as interchangeable, liberalism achieves something that no other social system can provide, at least to a large extent: Coordinate without controlling. In a libertarian system, everyone can participate, but no one is responsible.
In the context of human history, everything about liberalism is radical: its rejection of individual and tribal authority, its insistence on treating people as interchangeable, its demand for tolerance of dissent and protection of minorities, its embrace of change and uncertainty . All its premises go against human instinct. Liberalism is the strangest and most counterintuitive social idea ever devised, and its shortcomings are only made up for by the fact that it is also the most successful social idea ever created…
