Bi-Weekly Discussion - Is "Social Liberalism" Dying?

This is going to be an online meetup using Zoom. If you've never used Zoom before, don't worry — it's easy to use and free to join.

Here's the link to the event: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84101789449?pwd=a0ZMaFIzSXhhUTdYd3h2MG1FQ2dIQT09

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IS SOCIAL LIBERALISM DYING?

INTRODUCTION:
Back in 2019, I decided to affiliate the Philly Political Agnostics meetup with the Burke-Paine Society, a non-profit organization founded in 2017 that brings together political discussion groups with the aim of fulfilling 3 objectives: (1) rebuild cross-partisan trust, (2) redefine national identity, and (3) ignite a political renaissance. The name of the group is based on Yuval Levin's 2013 book, The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left. Levin sees Burkean conservatism & Painean liberalism not as utterly opposed political philosophies, but rather as two wings of a broader political philosophy - i.e. the "classical liberalism" of the Enlightenment that advocated for a constitutional republic with a separation of powers, free & fair elections, free speech, a free press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, equality before the law, due process, etc.

For the last year or so, I've been meaning to put together a pair of meetups as an introduction to Burkean conservatism and Painean liberalism. However, we also need to contend with the (seemingly) recent decline in support for certain classical liberal principles & democratic norms, on both ends of the political spectrum. We covered conservatism last month, so this time we'll look at the progressive movement in America.

The purpose of this meetup is two-fold: (1) we want to assess how much our meetup's emphasis on civility, rational inquiry, intellectual humility & pragmatism overlaps with the Painean progressive wing of the classical liberal tradition, and (2) we'll consider whether current trends within American progressivism are moving away from the "social liberalism" that tries to preserve the classical liberal values we inherited from the Founding & update them for the current era.

In the 1st section, we'll review the history of the how the progressive movement of the late 19th & early 20th century led to FDR's New Deal, and how the Great Depression & WWII convinced some liberals of the need for positive rights like "freedom from want" and "freedom from fear". While these were ostensibly new rights, they also harked back to Paine's ideas about "agrarian justice" and Roussea's "social contract". We'll look at how this new strand of "social liberalism" developed through the Civil Rights Era and LBJ's Great Society, and how Democrats distinguished their social welfare programs from "socialism".

In the 2nd section, we'll look at the "New Left" that emerged in the late 1960s that began to focus more on issues of race, gender & sexuality rather than just class conflict & economic inequality. We'll ask whether the Democratic Party's ideological ties to classical liberalism were weakened by the infiltration of Marxist ideology into left-wing activist groups or strengthened by the "free speech movement" and the gradual shift of the conservative Dixiecrats to the Republican Party. We'll also consider how a new strain of "neoliberalism" arose among Third Way Democrats who adopted a centrist position on economics in the 1990s that carried over to the Obama administration.

In the 3rd section, we'll look at how the 2008 financial crisis, rising income inequality, and soaring student loan debt led many young Americans to become fed up with financial capitalism, which led in turn to the Occupy movement in 2011, the growth of the DSA since 2016 (from under 10k members in 2016 to over 90k today), and Bernie Sanders' surprising success in the early phases of the Democratic presidential primaries in 2016 & 2020, only to be defeated by establishment candidates (Clinton & Biden). We'll look at whether this rising interest in socialism is compatible with or inimical to the tradition of classical liberalism.

In the 4th section, we'll consider whether something changed in Obama's second term that led to a disillusionment with civil libertarianism on the political left, leading to the rise of what Jonathan Chait called the "Illiberal Left" on college campuses. Then we'll consider how left-wing activists reacted to the election of Donald Trump, and whether the growth of "cancel culture", "identity politics" and radical "antifascist" groups represent a threat to the left's ties to classical liberalism or are necessary to preserve liberalism from the threats of racism, sexism, nativism & police brutality.

RELEVANT MATERIAL FROM PAST MEETUPS:
Back in 2017, we had a meetup entitled "Classical Liberalism & Property Rights" where we how some limitations on property rights, reparations for past injustices, and some forms of economic redistribution could be justified from a "classical liberal" perspective.

Back in January of 2019, we had a meetup entitled "Can & Should We Be Politically Agnostic?" and in the 4th section we talked about how a possible solution to our lack of a roadmap to utopia is a progressive form of "pragmatism" based on using trial & error to gradually improve society over time. We talked about how this pragmatic approach was adopted in many OECD countries as the result of the failure of Keynesian policies in the 1970s and the adoption of "neoliberal" market reforms in the 1980s-90s that made welfare states sustainable.

In Aug. 2020, the Skeptics had a meetup entitled "Is/Was There a Campus Free Speech Crisis?" that assessed whether there was a shift in the norms surrounding free speech & academic freedom on college campuses in the mid-2010s.

Also in Aug. 2020, we had meetup entitled "Is 'Cancel Culture' a Real Threat?" where we addressed whether or not social media platforms should ban people and/or employers fire people for objectionable or controversial speech.

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DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:
The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of some of the ideological trends within America's progressive movement. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the numbered videos linked under each section - the videos come to about about XX minutes total. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.
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I. THE RISE OF "SOCIAL LIBERALISM" & THE "OLD LEFT" FROM FDR'S NEW DEAL TO LBJ'S GREAT SOCIETY:

• WAS JOHN DEWEY'S CRITIQUE OF CLASSICAL LIBERALISM IN "LIBERALISM AND SOCIAL ACTION" (1935) & HIS VIEW THAT DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM COULD ENABLE HUMAN FREEDOM UNDERSTANDABLE FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION? WHAT SHOULD WE THINK OF IT TODAY?
• DID THE "CIVIL LIBERTARIANISM" EXEMPLIFIED BY THE ACLU'S DEFENSE OF LABOR ACTIVISTS IN THE INTERWAR YEARS & UP THROUGH ITS DEFENSE OF VIETNAM WAR PROTESTORS DEMONSTRATE A STRONGER COMMITMENT TO DEFENDING CLASSICAL LIBERAL PRINCIPLES ON THE LEFT? WAS THE ACLU RIGHT TO EXCLUDE COMMUNISTS FROM MEMBERSHIP (FROM 1940 TO 1968)?
• WAS HERBERT CROLY RIGHT TO THINK THAT THE MEANS OF HAMILTONIANISM (I.E. FEDERAL GOV'T INTERVENTION) COULD SERVE JEFFERSONIAN ENDS (I.E. EMPOWER INDIVIDUALS BY CHECKING BIG BUSINESS)?
• DID FDR MERELY ADOPT THE TERM "LIBERAL" FOR HIS POLITICAL VIEWS BECAUSE "PROGRESSIVISM" HAD BECOME UNPOPULAR, OR DID HE THINK HIS POLICIES WERE AKIN TO THOSE OF THE FOUNDERS?
• WHETHER OR NOT YOU THINK FDR'S NEW DEAL, JFK'S NEW FRONTIER & LBJ'S GREAT SOCIETY PROGRAMS WERE BENEFICIAL, DO YOU THINK THEY WERE CONSISTENT WITH THE SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMS THOMAS PAINED OUTLINED IN "THE RIGHTS OF MAN" AND "AGRARIAN JUSTICE"?

1a) The American Mind w/ Walter Russell Mead, "A Historical Look at American Liberalism" (video - 18:33 min, start at 5:57)

1b) The School of Life, "The Political Theory of John Rawls" (video - 6:33 min.)

• Adrian Rutt, "Liberalism and Social Action: The Relevance of John Dewey" (Liberal Currents)
• Eric Alterman, "How Classical Liberalism Morphed Into New Deal Liberalism" (American Progress)
• Samuel Moyn, "How Civil Liberties Went Mainstream - The free-speech movement was originally a means to an economic end: Progressives wanted to protect labor unions’ right to strike."
• Peter Canellos, "What FDR Understood About Socialism That Today’s Democrats Don’t: He ruled at the height of government activism, but saw ideology as something to fear, not embrace." (Politico)
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II. THE CHANGING MEANING OF "LIBERALISM" FROM THE NEW LEFT COUNTERCULTURE OF THE '60s TO THE CULTURE WARS OF THE '90s:

• ARE ISAIAH BERLIN'S "TWO CONCEPTS OF LIBERTY" (1958) AND JOHN RAWLS' "A THEORY OF JUSTICE" (1971) ESSENTIALLY JUST FORMALIZATIONS OF THE OLD LEFT'S VIEWS, OR DOES BERLIN'S EMPHASIS ON VALUE PLURALISM & RAWLS' DEFENSE OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE PRESAGE THE NEW LEFT?
• DID THE WARREN COURT (1953-1969) ADVANCE CLASSICAL LIBERAL PRINCIPLES BY STRIKING DOWN SEGREGATION & INCORPORATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS?
• DID MARTIN LUTHER KING'S VIEW OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS A "PROMISSORY NOTE" SUGGEST HE & OTHER CIVIL RIGHTS REFORMERS VIEWED THEIR STRUGGLE AS PART OF THE CLASSICAL LIBERAL TRADITION? DID MORE RADICAL GROUPS THAT FAVORED BLACK SEPARATISM TO INTEGRATION SIGNIFY A BREAK WITH THIS TRADITION?
• WAS THE SHIFT FROM THE OLD LEFT'S "CLASS REDUCTIONISM" TO THE NEW LEFT'S "IDENTITY POLITICS" BASED ON RACE, GENDER & SEXUALITY AN IMPROVEMENT FROM A CLASSICAL LIBERAL PERSPECTIVE, INSOFAR AS IT ADDRESSES NON-MONETARY INJUSTICES, OR DID IT JUST BREED A DIFFERENT FORM OF MARXIST COLLECTIVISM?
• WERE THE WARS OVER POLITICAL CORRECTNESS THAT LED ALAN BLOOM TO WARN ABOUT "THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND" (1987), ROGER KIMBALL TO COMPLAIN ABOUT "TENURED RADICALS" (1990) AND PETER THIEL TO DEBUNK "THE DIVERSITY MYTH" (1995) A SIGN OF A DECLINING LIBERALISM IN ACADEMIA OR JUST A REACTIONARY OUTBURST?
• DID THE MORE CENTRIST ECONOMIC & CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICIES OF "THIRD WAY DEMOCRATS" LIKE BILL CLINTON SIGNIFY A MOVE AWAY FROM RADICALISM BACK TOWARDS THE LIBERAL TRADITION, OR A BETRAYAL OF SOCIAL LIBERALISM'S EARLIER PROGRESS?

2a) Flippen Classes, "The 1960s: The New Left Begins - SDS and Free Speech Movement" (video - 8:31 min.)

2b) PBS, "How Democrats have changed since the Bill Clinton years" (video - 4:58 min.)

• Ethan Linehan, "John Rawls and the New Left: an interview with Bill Edmundson" (Platypus)
• David T. Koyzis, "The sixties and the evolution of liberalism" (First Things)
• Moira Weigel, "Political correctness: how the right invented a phantom enemy" (Guardian)
• Sean Wilentz, "New Republic: How Bill Clinton Saved Liberalism" (NPR)

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III. THE "SOCIALIST MOMENT" FROM OCCUPY TO BERNIE, THE RISE OF THE "POSTLEFT" & THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO LIBERALISM:

• DID THE END OF THE COLD WAR, RISING STUDENT DEBT & THE 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS LEAD MILLENNIALS TO BECOME INTERESTED IN "SOCIALISM"? HAS THE COVID CRASH DONE THE SAME FOR GEN-Z? DO THEY WANT A COMMAND ECONOMY OR MERELY AN EXPANDED WELFARE STATE?
• ARE "BLACK BLOC" ANARCHISTS PART OF THE SOCIALIST LEFT OR OBSTRUCTIONISTS WHO SABOTAGE NONVIOLENT REFORM EFFORTS, AS CHRIS HEDGES ARGUED?
• IF "DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS" LIKE BERNIE SANDERS & AOC WANT SOMETHING LIKE DENMARK IN THE SHORT TERM BUT EVENTUALLY WANT TO ABOLISH CAPITALISM, IS THAT STILL COMPATIBLE WITH LIBERAL DEMOCRACY?
• HOW IS ANDREW YANG'S UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME PROPOSAL RELATION TO THOMAS PAINE'S IDEAS? DOES HIS "HUMAN CAPITALISM" OFFER A BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM?
• ARE SOCIALISTS THAT OPPOSE IDENTITY POLITICS & CANCEL CULTURE (E.G. ADOLPH REED, SLAVOJ ZIZEK, MARK FISHER, DOUGLAS LAIN, GLENN GREENWALD, BEN BURGIS, MICHAEL BROOKS) IN FAVOR OF WORKING CLASS SOLIDARITY & OPEN DEBATE MORE AMENABLE TO LIBERALISM? COULD A "COSMOPOLITAN SOCIALISM" GROW OUT OF THIS, OR ONLY UNTIL THEY GET POWER?

3a) PBS, "Is socialism having its moment in U.S. elections?" (video - 5:08 min.)

3b) Liberaven, "Social Democracy vs Social Liberalism Explained" (video - 8:24 min.)

• Matt McManus, "Socialists Don’t Want to Destroy Liberalism. We Want to Go Beyond It." (Jacobin)
• Chris Hedges, "The Cancer in Occupy" (Truthdig)
• Will Wilkinson, "Is There a Libertarian Case for Bernie Sanders?" (Niskanen)
• John Harwood, "Why Andrew Yang says 'human capitalism' beats democratic socialism" (CNBC)
• Ben Burgis, "The Cosmopolitan Socialism of Michael Brooks" (Jacobin)

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IV. THE "GREAT AWOKENING", THE BOOMER/GEN-X DEFENSE OF SOCIAL LIBERALISM & THE GEN-Z "POSTLEFT":

• WHAT CAUSED THE RISE IN STUDENT PROTESTS & THE "GREAT AWOKENING" - THE BIG SHIFT IN SOCIAL VIEWS AMONG WHITE LIBERALS TOWARDS RACE, GENDER & LGBT CONCERNS - IN OBAMA's 2nd TERM? ARE WE IN A "NEW CIVIL RIGHTS ERA" OR JUST A "PURITY SPIRAL"?
• IS "IDENTITY POLITICS" INIMICAL TO CLASSICAL LIBERALISM'S UNIVERSALISM & POSITIVE SUM WORLDVIEW, OR MUST EVERY GROUP STICK UP FOR ITSELF SINCE NO ONE IS FULLY IMPARTIAL & SOME CONFLICTS ARE ZERO SUM?
• IS THE PROGRESSIVE LEFT TOO FOCUSED ON THE ROMANTIC POSE OF "FIGHTING THE POWER" RATHER THAN "BEING THE POWER" - I.E. PRAGMATISM, TRADEOFFS, COMPROMISES & TAKING RESPONSIBILITY?
• DID ANGER OVER TRUMP INTENSIFY MAKE MANY PEOPLE ON THE LEFT MORE WILLING TO SANCTION USING VIOLENCE TO ACHIEVE POLITICAL ENDS? DID JOE BIDEN'S ELECTION SIGNAL A MELLOWING OF THIS SENTIMENT, OR WILL THE OVERTURNING OF ROE V. WAFE NULLIFY THIS?
• ARE THE "POSTLEFT" PODCASTERS & BLOGGERS (WHAT'S LEFT?, CUM TOWN, RED SCARE, DRUNKEN CANAL) MOVING CLOSER TO CLASSICAL LIBERALISM AFTER THEIR DISILLUSIONMENT WITH LEFT POLITICS, OR RATHER TOWARDS RIGHT-WING POPULISM AND/OR APOLITICAL CYNICISM?

4a) Mark Lilla, "Too Much Identity Politics?" (video - 5:04 min.)

4b) Adam Gopnik, "Liberalism’s Response to Authoritarianism" (video - 4:41 min)

4c) Megan Kelly w/ Anna Khachiyan & Dasha Nekrasova, "The American Culture's Drift From Reality and Focus on Identity" (video - 7:06 min, listen to 5:40)

• Jacob T. Levy, "The Defense of Liberty Can’t Do Without Identity Politics" (Niskanen)
• David A. Bell, "Lost Bearings: Adam Gopnik and the search for a 21st-century liberalism" (Nation)
• Jonathan Chait, "The Still-Vital Case for Liberalism in a Radical Age" (NY Mag)
• Timothy Shenk, "Dead Center: Jonathan Chait's new book shows the failure of 'grown up' liberalism" (New Republic)
• Park MacDougald, "Twilight of the American Left: The dissident 'post-Left' mocks the Democrats' progressive agenda" (Unherd)
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