Thank you for this rich and careful piece. Helena Rosenblatt’s The Hidden History of Liberalism reminds us that liberalism has always been rooted in moral and social life, not just in abstract rights-talk. From its beginnings, it cultivated civic virtue, religious toleration, and the dignity of particular attachments—family, faith, community—precisely as the soil out of which universal concern can grow. Your essay shows that what critics dismiss as deracination is, in fact, liberalism’s deep recognition that our humanity is revealed through both the local and the universal. (And thanks for referencing Tara Isabella Burton's marvelous Plough article: The Florentine Option: On Rooted Cosmopolitanism.)
Thanks for taking the time to read and share your thoughts! I have been meaning to read Rosenblatt for some time now. I’ve heard nothing but good things about her insightfulness as a thinker and historian of liberalism.
I agree with you about liberalism recognizing that humanity is revealed both in the local and the universal. I think that liberalism at its best is uniquely good at “both/ands”—in this case, the horizontal view—having space for all the overlapping local bonds that make up our lives as individuals—and the vertical view—the local and the universal.
“The Florenrine Option” is one of my favorite things Tara has written and was one of several influences in the back of my head while working on this piece.
The "liberal" you depict here is recognizable to people who are old enough to recall when herds of these creatures blackened the prairie all the way to the horizon. Alas, no more. The "liberal" of today is no longer the center of the left. People in that location do not use the L-word but more typically identify as a "progressive." The two terms seem to swap locations over the generations as the political center wearies of whichever one is predominant. The problem in the USA is that the center of the left has become illiberal, anti-liberal, and is barely recognizable in the rather reasonable person depicted in your essay. The liberal value above all others was free speech, but that value has been subordinated on the left in recent years. If there is to be a liberal left again in the USA -- or at least a politically meaningful liberalism -- then it is up to people on the left to recreate it. As someone not on the left, I would nonetheless welcome that development.
Excellent essay, Andrew.
Thanks, Fr. Shawn. Appreciate you reading and grateful for any reactions or responses you might have!
Thank you for this rich and careful piece. Helena Rosenblatt’s The Hidden History of Liberalism reminds us that liberalism has always been rooted in moral and social life, not just in abstract rights-talk. From its beginnings, it cultivated civic virtue, religious toleration, and the dignity of particular attachments—family, faith, community—precisely as the soil out of which universal concern can grow. Your essay shows that what critics dismiss as deracination is, in fact, liberalism’s deep recognition that our humanity is revealed through both the local and the universal. (And thanks for referencing Tara Isabella Burton's marvelous Plough article: The Florentine Option: On Rooted Cosmopolitanism.)
Thanks for taking the time to read and share your thoughts! I have been meaning to read Rosenblatt for some time now. I’ve heard nothing but good things about her insightfulness as a thinker and historian of liberalism.
I agree with you about liberalism recognizing that humanity is revealed both in the local and the universal. I think that liberalism at its best is uniquely good at “both/ands”—in this case, the horizontal view—having space for all the overlapping local bonds that make up our lives as individuals—and the vertical view—the local and the universal.
“The Florenrine Option” is one of my favorite things Tara has written and was one of several influences in the back of my head while working on this piece.
Great stuff, Andrew!
The "liberal" you depict here is recognizable to people who are old enough to recall when herds of these creatures blackened the prairie all the way to the horizon. Alas, no more. The "liberal" of today is no longer the center of the left. People in that location do not use the L-word but more typically identify as a "progressive." The two terms seem to swap locations over the generations as the political center wearies of whichever one is predominant. The problem in the USA is that the center of the left has become illiberal, anti-liberal, and is barely recognizable in the rather reasonable person depicted in your essay. The liberal value above all others was free speech, but that value has been subordinated on the left in recent years. If there is to be a liberal left again in the USA -- or at least a politically meaningful liberalism -- then it is up to people on the left to recreate it. As someone not on the left, I would nonetheless welcome that development.
Thanks for reading. I agree we need a healthy liberal left, though I don’t think the contemporary picture is as dire as you say.