Why Liberalism Failed

Brett Scott and I explore the collapse of liberalism and the rise of the Right

I spoke with Brett Scott about his recent essay on liberalism, “Making Capitalism Bad Again: How ditching the cognitive dissonance of liberalism makes some men feel secure once more”, which I thoroughly appreciated. In the interview, we explore how liberal capitalism’s moral split — between ruthless competition and moral virtue — produces both guilt and confusion across modern society. Brett traces the lineage of “good capitalism” from ESG investing to tech-driven “effective altruism.” Recently Right Wing libertarians — figures like Trump, Musk, and Thiel — have cynically exploited this contradiction to gain power. (If you watch the interview, please do not forget to “like,” “subscribe”, and even “share”).

We are currently witnessing the death of liberalism with the collapse of reformist fantasies like “stakeholder capitalism” or “green capitalism,” and the rise of a new authoritarian “techno-feudalism,” a kind of religious fanaticism that promotes transhumanism and the Singularity, while benefiting a small group of the super wealthy. In some ways, the death of the illusions of a benign liberalism could be a great thing, if it removes the various levels of delusion people seek to maintain about this system.

Many people I know continue to profit from a humane illusion of liberal Capitalism. They succeed within it, while somehow believing they can benefit the world by doing so.