Listen to this chapter on any podcast app, at YouTube, at Substack, or here: About a year ago, I started publishing draft chapters of my book in progress, The Liberal Backbone. It hit me lately that the draft is done – I realized that with the latest chapters I’d started writing a second book. That one will be on alienation, which I think deserves a book of its … [Read more...] about The True Crisis: The Liberal Backbone, Chapter 15
liberalism
The Art of Politics: The Liberal Backbone, Chapter 14
Listen to this chapter on any podcast app, at YouTube, at Substack, or here: Last time, we explored music as an example of how it’s possible to think meaningfully without thinking rationally. The meaning of a piece of music can make us shiver, cry, exult, or even change how we live our lives. And yet even great musicians struggle to explain that meaning. That’s not … [Read more...] about The Art of Politics: The Liberal Backbone, Chapter 14
Escape From the Iron Cage: The Liberal Backbone, Chapter 13
Listen to this chapter on any podcast app, at YouTube, at Substack, or here: Escape from the iron cage of alienation appears to be impossible: You’ll never think of a way out, because it’s thinking that locks you in. Unless you discover a different way to think. Or rather, rediscover. Humans have always practiced multiple ways of … [Read more...] about Escape From the Iron Cage: The Liberal Backbone, Chapter 13
The Iron Cage: Chapter 10 of The Liberal Backbone
Listen to this chapter on any podcast app, at YouTube, at Substack, or here: The crisis of liberalism is nowhere more serious than on the liberal left. As I write, public approval of the Democratic Party stands, wobbling, at 29 percent in one major poll and 27 percent in another. This may not be surprising to young Americans, who have never … [Read more...] about The Iron Cage: Chapter 10 of The Liberal Backbone
How We Became Aliens: The Liberal Backbone, Chapter 9
Listen to this chapter on any podcast app, at YouTube, or at Substack. Last time, I argued that if liberals still believe in an open society — free, equal, and pluralistic — we must defend reason. It’s the shared “meeting space” that makes the open society possible. But we must also understand that reason alone isn’t enough. It’s a classic liberal failing not to … [Read more...] about How We Became Aliens: The Liberal Backbone, Chapter 9