it undercuts the social propaganda of liberalism that in turn undermines socialist development… [Libs] fail to recognize the only thing keeping liberalism alive was the kayfabe of social harmony and incrementalism
This is really on point.
There’s this philosopher who’s politically kooky but his critiques of liberalism in particular are useful imo. He’s a bit like Chris Hedges; some good critiques but when it comes to conclusions and application and what is to be done, best look elsewhere because these people are poster children for the dire consequences that long-term materialism deficiency has on the mind and the spirit.
Anyway this philosopher named John Gray identified four fundamental values inherent to liberalism/liberal mythology:
The first three in that list are pretty easy to grasp, I think. The last is closely bound with the myth of progress and however you want to rehash the concept: a rising tide lifts all boats, the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice, etc.
Your comment really struck upon the same ideas that John Gray traced out. Arguably “social harmony” is how liberals perceive Individualism, Universalism, and Egalitarianism to manifest in society. Incrementalism is simply a different way of describing meliorism.
I’m not sure if you’ve come across John Gray’s work before but I just wanted to point out that not only are you hitting the nail on the head in your comment but you’ve arrived at a conclusion that an academic managed to build half of their career upon, which I think is pretty neat.
I get that there are more important things to study but on a personal level I’ve found that learning about the philosophical basis of liberalism to be really instructive of how to play the angles when it comes to highlighting liberal hypocrisy and using the inherent contradictions of that political project to do all that good stuff like deconstruction and rebutting and undermining and agitation. Your comment drives home how a solid grasp of what liberalism is and what it tells itself is instrumental in revealing liberalism (and liberals) for what they truly are.
That’s so cool, I’m not familiar with John Gray, I was just going off my own intuition and understanding, but it’s not surprising if anyone observes liberals long enough and take their history into account they would most likely come to the same conclusions as Mr. Gray
Meliorism is also an interesting term, I wasn’t aware of it until now, but it encapsulates so much of what I find insidious and subtly sinister about the architecture of liberal thought
I agree, the liberal framing of meliorism is so pernicious. This kinda weird, linear concept of progress that posits that every development ultimately benefits us all.
Obviously that’s not true though. I have a little quip that I occasionally dust off when discussing this and it is that meliorism doesn’t account for the invention of the whip.
In more prosaic terms, the Americas really didn’t see the benefits from the development of things like advanced seafaring or gunpowder and it’s undeniable that these advancements of Europe caused an unfathomable amount of suffering, deprivation, and dispossession. But in all honesty I think that’s the pro-colonialism and white supremacy that comes built into liberalism and its idealised notion of meliorism shining through; it’s all pretty great, just as long as you don’t consider brown people!
This is really on point.
There’s this philosopher who’s politically kooky but his critiques of liberalism in particular are useful imo. He’s a bit like Chris Hedges; some good critiques but when it comes to conclusions and application and what is to be done, best look elsewhere because these people are poster children for the dire consequences that long-term materialism deficiency has on the mind and the spirit.
Anyway this philosopher named John Gray identified four fundamental values inherent to liberalism/liberal mythology:
Individualism
Universalism
Egalitarianism
Meliorism
The first three in that list are pretty easy to grasp, I think. The last is closely bound with the myth of progress and however you want to rehash the concept: a rising tide lifts all boats, the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice, etc.
Your comment really struck upon the same ideas that John Gray traced out. Arguably “social harmony” is how liberals perceive Individualism, Universalism, and Egalitarianism to manifest in society. Incrementalism is simply a different way of describing meliorism.
I’m not sure if you’ve come across John Gray’s work before but I just wanted to point out that not only are you hitting the nail on the head in your comment but you’ve arrived at a conclusion that an academic managed to build half of their career upon, which I think is pretty neat.
I get that there are more important things to study but on a personal level I’ve found that learning about the philosophical basis of liberalism to be really instructive of how to play the angles when it comes to highlighting liberal hypocrisy and using the inherent contradictions of that political project to do all that good stuff like deconstruction and rebutting and undermining and agitation. Your comment drives home how a solid grasp of what liberalism is and what it tells itself is instrumental in revealing liberalism (and liberals) for what they truly are.
That’s so cool, I’m not familiar with John Gray, I was just going off my own intuition and understanding, but it’s not surprising if anyone observes liberals long enough and take their history into account they would most likely come to the same conclusions as Mr. Gray
Meliorism is also an interesting term, I wasn’t aware of it until now, but it encapsulates so much of what I find insidious and subtly sinister about the architecture of liberal thought
I agree, the liberal framing of meliorism is so pernicious. This kinda weird, linear concept of progress that posits that every development ultimately benefits us all.
Obviously that’s not true though. I have a little quip that I occasionally dust off when discussing this and it is that meliorism doesn’t account for the invention of the whip.
In more prosaic terms, the Americas really didn’t see the benefits from the development of things like advanced seafaring or gunpowder and it’s undeniable that these advancements of Europe caused an unfathomable amount of suffering, deprivation, and dispossession. But in all honesty I think that’s the pro-colonialism and white supremacy that comes built into liberalism and its idealised notion of meliorism shining through; it’s all pretty great, just as long as you don’t consider brown people!
Sorry bud this made my absolute fucking BAR detector blow up in my hand