Curated Resource ( ? )
Some thoughts on the crisis of liberalism—and how to fix it - Liberalism
Curated:
23/06/2018 from
www.economist.com/bagehots-notebook/2018/06/12/some-thoughts-on-the-crisis-of-liberalism-and-how-to-fix-it
my notes ( ? )
The most powerful engine of elitism is the European Union... Founding Fathers of Europe deliberately removed a great deal of decision-making from the hands of the (nation-bounded and short-sighted) public... Confronted with popular revolts against the rule of experts they have simply dug in their heels... For the EU, technocratic decision-making is not a bug but a feature....
But there is also a big problem with elite liberalism: by insulating technocratic elites from the pressure of popular opinion—by putting them in a comfortable cocoon of like-minded elites—it encourages over-reach... The best way to restore a better balance between elitism and democracy is to prevent the elites from engaging in over-reach... Technocratic policy-makers also need to be reconnected with the people they are supposed to serve....
A global council of mayors ... could meet once a year and send representatives to various other global bodies... linking the global sphere with the local...
In Britain the 48% who voted Remain are more preoccupied with the stupidity of the masses than they are about the over-reach of the European elite that made “take back control” such a potent slogan...
two big temptations. The first ... to add a hefty helping of identity politics to elite liberalism... identity politics is not only incompatible with liberalism but positively repugnant to it... The price of wokeness is the re-racialisation and re-biologisation of public discourse... identity politics ... deny people with alternative views the right to speak... Hurt feelings trump freedom of speech... Identity politics is thus the biggest challenge to liberalism’s commitment to free speech and diversity of opinion...
The other big temptation is to surrender to the populism... Liberals certainly need to do more to listen to the will of the people: the Brexit mess would never have happened if Brussels had paid more attention to the rising cries of discontent across Europe and moderated its ambitions accordingly.
But there is also a big problem with elite liberalism: by insulating technocratic elites from the pressure of popular opinion—by putting them in a comfortable cocoon of like-minded elites—it encourages over-reach... The best way to restore a better balance between elitism and democracy is to prevent the elites from engaging in over-reach... Technocratic policy-makers also need to be reconnected with the people they are supposed to serve....
A global council of mayors ... could meet once a year and send representatives to various other global bodies... linking the global sphere with the local...
In Britain the 48% who voted Remain are more preoccupied with the stupidity of the masses than they are about the over-reach of the European elite that made “take back control” such a potent slogan...
two big temptations. The first ... to add a hefty helping of identity politics to elite liberalism... identity politics is not only incompatible with liberalism but positively repugnant to it... The price of wokeness is the re-racialisation and re-biologisation of public discourse... identity politics ... deny people with alternative views the right to speak... Hurt feelings trump freedom of speech... Identity politics is thus the biggest challenge to liberalism’s commitment to free speech and diversity of opinion...
The other big temptation is to surrender to the populism... Liberals certainly need to do more to listen to the will of the people: the Brexit mess would never have happened if Brussels had paid more attention to the rising cries of discontent across Europe and moderated its ambitions accordingly.
Read the Full Post
The above notes were curated from the full post www.economist.com/bagehots-notebook/2018/06/12/some-thoughts-on-the-crisis-of-liberalism-and-how-to-fix-it.Related reading
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