More and more people claim that liberalism has lost its power and influence. It has become entangled in futile discussions, whereas it should set the tone and provide solutions to our current challenges. As a result, it has betrayed the trust of people who see neither the courage of thought nor the consistency of action. How can this situation be changed?
To propose any solutions, it is necessary to understand the causes of the ailment. The victory of liberalism after the Cold War initiated a new stage in the world, which democrats and liberal sympathizers slept through, and even lost their ideals, intoxicated by victory. They believed they had won the battle for what the world should look like, but they miscalculated. The end of history proclaimed by Francis Fukuyama turned out to be a false thesis that did not help liberalism and even proved to be the first of many blows dealt by opponents of liberal democracy.
In this sense, we should take seriously the postulates outlined by Amichai Magen in his essay “Do We Need a New Liberalism of Fear?”. He calls for a confrontation with the dark sides of what liberals considered happiness, namely globalization and the free market.
Moreover, in trying to defend its gains from the victorious period of democracy after the Cold War, liberalism lost something more important. It gave up on developing responses to new problems affecting contemporary societies. These include China’s ambitions on the international stage, regions where state structures have failed, or issues related to the threats posed by the development of artificial intelligence. Today we live in times when mere administration is no longer sufficient, as political minimalism can be the nail in the coffin and a source of chaos in the world we live in.
Liberalism lost its moral power to change the world because it engaged in wars on the other side of the globe to bolster its sense of security – except it was at this moment that the whole world saw its true face. In his essay “The Future of Liberalism,” Timothy Garton Ash shows how complicated the world is, where one has to cooperate with countries that violate human rights, which for us – the West – are the foundations of liberalism. This is one of the reasons why liberalism has lost its charm, as authoritarian regimes are emerging today and, in the eyes of many, perform better in current times, which are uncertain and filled with risk.
Unfortunately, this is also visible in studies conducted in the USA, where the majority of young people prefer to give up some of their freedom so that the country is governed with a firm hand. This is a symptom of what liberalism has become – discussions about important matters but without concrete actions, which is what people now care about.
Many of our fellow citizens do not care what system they live under. This is the fault of politicians who have too long threatened the collapse of democracy for their political gain. The result was the burnout of various types of protests defending the separation of powers or minority rights. People did not know what they were fighting for because they did not see the changes being discussed, and when they began to affect them, it was already too late.
An example of this is the behavior of Donald Trump, which was downplayed as a show for the public, but it was his true face and real political program. Trump’s style of action proved so dangerous because it found followers. In his book, Jan-Werner Müller cites a study that should be alarming for anyone who loves democracy. In this study, 40% of Trump voters in Florida expressed the belief that Clinton is literally a demon. This is another proof that liberalism cannot stop the increasingly brutal political struggle and even exacerbates it. It deprives populist party voters of the freedom to choose their representatives and accuses them of stupidity.
All these accusations against liberalism are accurate. People who supported liberal democracy have now lost faith in its power. This was one of the biggest mistakes of all governments. People felt robbed of respect because they were not rich enough or lived in places other than big cities. We need to restore respect for them and their aspirations. These are the people who were abandoned by the state when they sought and needed its intervention and helping hand. They heard from the state the mantra that there were no funds for their needs and exclusion. And even if there were, investing in the provinces would be a waste of money. Such an approach is not a crime; it is a mistake that costs liberals dearly today.
Liberals should also find a way to redefine patriotism so that no one is excluded from the national community. That is when liberalism would lose the ideals that built it. We also need to address the fears of our citizens. None of them should be ignored because then we show contempt and a lack of understanding of the needs of another person. This would be a mistake made too many times. Liberals must create a narrative based on people, not ideas. Ideas are right but are usually in the realm of dreams. People, however, solve real problems.
These things should be done as soon as possible so that liberalism can become stronger, for only it can heal democracy and include more people in civil society and social dialogue.
Written by Maciej Makowski
The article was originally published in Polish at: https://liberte.pl/liberalizm-bez-serca/
Translated by Natalia Banaś
