Is liberalism at fault for the problems of society? Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick J. Deneen and Despised by Paul Embery
Welcome!
First off hello and welcome to my newsletter. I've been looking for an outlet to develop my writing skills and reflect more on books I've been reading, and thought this might be a good way to do that. If anyone actually reads this and has thoughts on what I'm writing (this could be other books to read, or debating what I'm saying, or general feedback) then please get in touch. There's obviously a chance that nothing really comes of these newsletters but I thought it might be worth a try.
I'm hoping to write roughly once a fortnight, whenever I've finished a book that's sufficiently noteworthy to write something about. Along with a review there will be a few scattered thoughts at the end, quite likely around training, other things I've been up to and interesting Twitter people I've recently come across. Maybe if this proves to be a success I'll try and put some structure to it.
Reviews
I'm leading off with a combined review of two books touching on very similar themes, albeit from very difficult angles. The books are Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick J. Deneen and Despised by Paul Embery. The theme running throughout both of these books is that modern society isn't working for most people, and that much of the blame for this can be placed with a liberal philosophy which raises the importance of individualism over the role of community, with negative social and economic consequences.
Why Liberalism failed addresses the issues of liberalism from an academic standpoint - Deneen is a professor of political science in the US, and this is obvious from the frequent quoting of famous texts in political philosophy ranging from Plato to Hobbes. That being said, the text is still quite easy to read, even if the ideas included are at times quite complicated.
A key idea of his is that premodern liberal philosophy from the Greeks, Romans and medieval Christians promoted constraining human impulses through self-governance and the cultivation of virtue, which could be achieved through education and custom. This was then turned on its head by a modern liberal philosophy which elevated individual liberty and freed it from constraints of custom and tradition. As we have followed this path, this has resulted in the key elements of society being the individual and then the state, at the expense of family and local community which used to sit between the two.
Deneen then goes on to explore several negative consequences of this shift in how we view the world and how we live our lives:
- Most citizens feel distant from elected politicians in government, who in turn feel powerless in the face of large bureaucracies required to maintain a liberal democracy. This is because a large state is required to protect the rights of the individual. As the state replaces community organisations, this results in a sense of isolation from wider society.
- Inequality is an inevitable by-product of economic systems inspired by liberalism
- Liberalism can be seen as an attempt to master or control nature, resulting in climate change
- A liberal philosophy encourages technology to attempt to separate ourselves from the constraints of normal human lives, resulting in addictive tendencies and ultimately remaking humanity itself
- Liberalism erases culture, in its place creating an anticulture where instead of being constrained in our actions by civic responsibility, we are instead only constrained by the law.
Despite the book being heavy in problems created by liberalism, the author doesn't recommend looking for silver-bullet solutions. Instead, he advocates recognising the achievements of liberalism but then moving on from ideology and instead "develop practices that foster new forms of culture, household economics, and polis life", which is ultimately about moving back towards a more community-centric approach to life.
Overall I found it a rewarding read; it didn't pull its punches and was stronger for it. Anyone looking for a balanced account will be disappointed, but as liberal theory is the dominant one in modern discourse it seems fair to come down hard on one side of the discussion. Even though I didn't agree with all of it, it has made me look at the world in a different way, which is a worthwhile achievement for a 200 page book. It's also added a few books to my reading list (The Origins of Totalitarianism by Arendt and Democracy in America by Tocqueville).
Following Why Liberalism Failed I went on to read Despised by Paul Embery, a book putting the blame of the ills of modern society at a similar source to WLF, albeit coming at it from a completely different angle. Embery grew up in the traditional working class area of Dagenham and writes a book about the loss of connection between the Labour Party and the working class communities which used to be their natural constituency.
Unlike WLF, Embery is writing a book based on personal experience of the disconnect between the working class and the Modern Left rather than citing historical thinkers. It's not necessarily weaker for this, with a mixture of history of the relationship between the working class and the Labour party as well as recollections of the communities which he grew up in. Unlike WLF, I feel the bias he brings to the picture weakens the book, where often points are argued with strawman-style arguments and complex economic points about globalisation are written off by citing single think-tank reports (I suspect I could argue almost any political position by citing a single report). There was also a slightly odd rant about woke politics in the middle which read more like a Telegraph or Spectator opinion piece than a well-reasoned argument.
These issues aside, I think at its strong points Despised read like a genuine, passionate argument for a closer society rooted in Embery's personal experiences. At 200 pages it's a relatively easy read which I'm glad I made, and even if I disagree with many of the points included, they are shared by many of those former Labour voters who went Conservative in 2019, so need to be considered in debates about the future of the Labour party.
For other books I've read looking at the rise of populism, the weaknesses of liberalism and the separation of the traditional working class vote from the left-leaning parties, I'd also recommend National Populism by Matthew Goodwin and if you're feeling particularly adventurous, Capital and Ideology by Piketty.
Training Thoughts
In the build up to the Lakeland Trails 100k in July, I've split my season into 3x3 month blocks of respectively speed work, tempo work and long distance work. Having just finished the speed work block, I'm spending some time on the bike to rest my legs (they took a bit of a hammering at times!), with the occasional run to keep sharp. Feeling quite good on my feet, but haven't really had a standout run recently to prove this.
I'm looking forwards to building up some HM pace, with hopefully a race in late March/early April to aim for (considering Reading on the 11th). HM is the only distance I haven't finished a race feeling like I've had a good run afterwards, so I'm looking forwards to training for it.
Top Twitter follows
For easy-to-understand updates and thoughts on Covid-19 and science in general, Tom Chivers is a science journalist who brings an open mind and a healthy degree of skepticism to his tweets as well as his articles.
Other Stuff
Around now is when people try to think up New Year's resolutions... So far my best thoughts aren't great (see below), but hoping for inspiration in the next few days:
- Plan training more than a week in advance
- Actually write a regular newsletter (regardless of how many subscribers I get)!