A CRITIC AT LARGE SAY THE WORD
The New Yorker|May 27, 2024
Why liberals struggle to defend liberalism.
ADAM GOPNIIC
A CRITIC AT LARGE SAY THE WORD

Unlike authoritarians, liberals are committed to procedures and institutions, even when those things disappoint them.

“Don’t mention the word ‘liberalism,’” the talk-show host says to the guy who’s written a book on it. “Liberalism,” he explains, might mean Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to his suspicious audience, alienating more people than it invites. Talk instead about “liberal democracy,” a more expansive term that includes John McCain and Ronald Reagan. When you cross the border to Canada, you are allowed to say “liberalism” but are asked never to praise “liberals,” since that means implicitly endorsing the ruling Trudeau government and the longdominant Liberal Party. In England, you are warned off both words, since “liberals” suggests the membership of a quaintly failed political party and “liberalism” its dated program. In France, of course, the vagaries of language have made “liberalism” mean free-market fervor, doomed from the start in that country, while what we call liberalism is more hygienically referred to as “republicanism.” Say that.

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Bu hikaye The New Yorker dergisinin May 27, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.