From Liberalism to Progressivism to What?

I found James Traub’s article at Atlantic, “Selfishness Is Killing Liberalism” (apparently, originally titled “Liberalism in the Trump Era”), made interesting reading. I had some problems with his definitions. I think that liberalism as a political force in the United States began to die around 1970 and has been dead now for decades. The last liberal candidate for president was Walter Mondale and that was almost 35 years ago. It has been supplanted by progressivism and unlike liberalism progressivism isn’t about freedom at all. It’s about the pursuit of some ever-changing imagined future.

And “meritocracy” is in desperate danger of becoming an auto-antonym. When meritocracy means “having certain characteristics, abilities, or accomplishements” it’s one thing but when it becomes “belonging to the right clubs” how is it to be distinguished from hereditary aristocracy?

I agree with him about selfishness. I think that Elbert Hubbard, the Sage of East Aurora, (not to be confused with Ron Hubbard) said it pretty succinctly: when 51% of the people want to give rather than get I’ll be a socialist. A politics primarily about self-interest isn’t conservative, liberal, or progressive. It’s just dominance.

4 comments… add one
  • Ben Wolf Link

    Well, then you’ve got a capitalism problem on your hands.

  • Which, given a free hand, I’d do something about. For example, I’d impose Pigouvian taxes to extract the gains resulting from the large array of government interventions and move aggressively to break up monopolies.

  • Guarneri Link

    “……but when (meritocracy) becomes “belonging to the right clubs” how is it to be distinguished from hereditary aristocracy?”

    I ran through my head a list of all the businesses with which I have come in contact (and it’s quite a list) and did not come up with one formed or successful due to membership in the right clubs. A variant, second+ generation businesses, I would estimate at no more than 10%. Admittedly the Kennedys or Heinzes might disagree. It seems much more an issue with Big Law and investment banking, where the right clubs tend to be Harvard, Yale and Columbia, and dominated by NYC and Washington DC.

    “Well, then you’ve got a capitalism problem on your hands.”

    A human nature problem, actually. St Benedictine is located on Ogden Ave in Lisle, IL. Not LaSalle Street in Chicago. I find odd indeed a worldview that inexorably advocates more government intervention – always in the name of rights, justice and virtue, mind you – yet inevitably provides and results in the opportunity to control. Perhaps there a a few small communities in rural Vermont or California that successfully practice selfless communism. It’s a shame they bathe infrequently.

    I’ll bet if queried, the overwhelming majority of people unknowingly would subscribe to classic liberalism. It’s just so damned hard to create and maintain. We don’t have armies to protect us from good people……..

  • I was speaking mostly about government departments.

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