Why Liberalism Failed

Patrick J. Deneen, a political science professor at Notre Dame, argues that liberalism, the last of the twentieth century's three dominant ideologies still standing after fascism and communism, is failing because of its own success. Its defenders, he says, often forget it is an ideology rather than the natural end point of political development. He faults both classical liberalism, or libertarianism, and the progressive kind, as practiced by Democrats and Republicans alike. Liberalism, he holds, promises equal rights while fostering vast material inequality, rests on consent while discouraging civic commitment, and in pursuit of individual autonomy has built the most sweeping state in history. He ties it to atomization, cultural decline and the loss of community, religion and tradition.

It was on the best of 2018 list Barack Obama posted on Facebook.