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Liberalism hasn’t failed, but many liberals sure have

Brink Lindsey · 15 Sept 2026

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Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    Today's political crises stem from the problems of mass affluence, which liberalism made possible.

    Their wordsFrom my perspective, the problems underlying our political crises are problems of mass affluence, which itself is a world-historical triumph of the first order made possible by liberal values and institutions.

  2. Our reading

    Today's discontents are not a failure of liberalism's basic principles.

    Their wordsOur contemporary ills, however, do not represent some deep-seated failure in the basic principles of liberalism that has now finally manifested itself.

  3. Our reading

    Liberal values and institutions are our best chance for meeting today's challenges.

    Their wordsliberal values and institutions represent our best chance for rising to contemporary challenges, just as they guided us to triumph over those traditional ills.

  4. Our reading

    The strength of political extremism reflects failures by liberals in responding to it.

    Their wordsMy answer to this question is an emphatic yes: there is no way things could have gotten to the current pass without massive failures and blunders by liberals

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