This. "Of course, it is imperfect. It does not solve every old problem and new problems always crop up. But all of the big social problems, from poverty and inequality to environmental degradation, war, and disease, are demonstrably better handled by liberal than non-liberal societies."
This is, albeit maybe overly dramatic on my part, damning with faint praise. When one admits that liberalism has a hard time with "big problems" it opens the door for collectivist action to step in a solve them. Bill Maher is fond of saying, "there are some problems so big that only a government can solve them." That's B.S. Rauch does assert that liberal societies to a better job than illiberal ones, but he still leaves the door open. Then again, as a nearly-psychotic-level advocate of "free minds and free markets," of course I feel that way!
This. "Of course, it is imperfect. It does not solve every old problem and new problems always crop up. But all of the big social problems, from poverty and inequality to environmental degradation, war, and disease, are demonstrably better handled by liberal than non-liberal societies."
This is, albeit maybe overly dramatic on my part, damning with faint praise. When one admits that liberalism has a hard time with "big problems" it opens the door for collectivist action to step in a solve them. Bill Maher is fond of saying, "there are some problems so big that only a government can solve them." That's B.S. Rauch does assert that liberal societies to a better job than illiberal ones, but he still leaves the door open. Then again, as a nearly-psychotic-level advocate of "free minds and free markets," of course I feel that way!
Beautifully put. The "big problems need big gov" fallacy is pervasive and shuts down thinking.
The Hebrew should read מה נשתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות.
Thank you!
A small token for the much more significant gift of your ideas.
Thinking a like. This is one of the most important questions of our era. https://www.renew-the-republic.com/p/why-you-should-worry-about-liberalism
Very interesting.