Liberal Currents

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A community of mere liberals. Discussing, defending, and applying the many varieties of liberalism. patreon.com/LiberalCurrents
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"The QAnon conspiracy theories—which posit that Donald Trump is fighting a cabal of child sex trafficking Satan worshippers who are harvesting frightened children’s adrenalin-laced blood to achieve immortality—have inspired numerous violent incidents." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-lovejoy-...

The Lovejoy Trap: Fascism Masquerading As Carewww.liberalcurrents.com Protecting children from danger: it’s one of the most virtuous aims we can think of. Children are seen as innocent, adorable, and helpless. Want to raise the stakes in your screenplay? Put a child in ...

"What was once unthinkable has become not merely thinkable but readily graspable: a future in which American democracy is abolished and the Constitution shambles on only as a grotesque mockery of our deepest aspirations to democracy and limited government." www.liberalcurrents.com/an-american-...

An American Reconstructionwww.liberalcurrents.com The revolution will take place within the modes and orders of American law even as it distorts and transforms that law.

"Skeptics of democracy often rest their arguments on the apathy of the masses. Some go so far as to defend that apathy as a positive good. Elliott argues that political apathy is neither inevitable, nor normatively defensible." www.liberalcurrents.com/taking-inclu...

Taking Inclusion Seriously: Kevin Elliott's Democracy for Busy Peoplewww.liberalcurrents.com “How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?” This question, asked by English writer Samuel Johnson in 1775, still touches a nerve today. Americans on the one ha...

"Understanding where liberalism stepped wrong requires a look back at its history, and there are few better guides for left liberals than C. B. Macpherson." www.liberalcurrents.com/c-b-macphers...

C. B. Macpherson on Retrieving Liberal Radicalismwww.liberalcurrents.com The 20th century political theorist has much to offer for the contemporary left liberal.

"The Arabs felt that the writing was on the wall. The defeat of the dictators was inevitable. The mood was filled with stubborn triumphalism." www.liberalcurrents.com/a-resilient-...

A Resilient Spirit Yearning for Justice: The Arab World Todaywww.liberalcurrents.com Powerlessness in the Arab World, thirteen years after the Arab Spring.

“Less well known is Macpherson’s longer-term project of “retrieval”-his attempt to recover a more emancipatory and egalitarian core to the liberal tradition which was worth carrying on in a more humane society.” www.liberalcurrents.com/c-b-macphers...

C.B. Macpherson on Retrieving Liberal Radicalismwww.liberalcurrents.com The 20th century political theorist has much to offer for the contemporary left liberal.

"The core question here is cultural and ultimately political. It must be because it is about who counts, who is deserving of dignity and mutual recognition in the public square." www.liberalcurrents.com/for-non-bina...

For Non-Binary Arkansans, No ID, No Entry Into Public Lifewww.liberalcurrents.com The governor of Arkansas has intentionally demeaned minority communities in a state where their position is already precarious.

"On every single policy issue, Trump and the Star Wars cantina of crooks, grifters, and true-believing fascists he has around him are vastly, vastly worse than the Biden administration has been." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-case-aga...

The Case Against Despairwww.liberalcurrents.com In politics sometimes you’re in government, sometimes you’re in the opposition, and sometimes you’re a dissident.

"From Morocco to Oman we’re all glued to the TV with Al-Jazeera on, helplessly watching in horror as what we consider to be a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza unfold." www.liberalcurrents.com/a-resilient-...

A Resilient Spirit Yearning for Justice: The Arab World Todaywww.liberalcurrents.com Powerlessness in the Arab World, thirteen years after the Arab Spring.

"When Americans go to the polls, all our votes should count equally, and should transmit the will of the people to the government. These rules are not rigged to favor any party or platform, only the people, ourselves." www.liberalcurrents.com/an-american-...

An American Reconstructionwww.liberalcurrents.com The revolution will take place within the modes and orders of American law even as it distorts and transforms that law.

"With such unanimous feelings of outrage, one might wonder why precisely are the Arabs so helpless in the current moment? Why is it that no Arab country has taken any actions to alter the reality in Gaza?" www.liberalcurrents.com/a-resilient-...

A Resilient Spirit Yearning for Justice: The Arab World Todaywww.liberalcurrents.com Powerlessness in the Arab World, thirteen years after the Arab Spring.

“The Arab Spring quickly turned into winter.” www.liberalcurrents.com/a-resilient-...

A Resilient Spirit Yearning for Justice: The Arab World Todaywww.liberalcurrents.com Powerlessness in the Arab World, thirteen years after the Arab Spring.

"The current forms and orders of the Constitution are not sufficient to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity." www.liberalcurrents.com/an-american-...

An American Reconstructionwww.liberalcurrents.com The revolution will take place within the modes and orders of American law even as it distorts and transforms that law.

"Our entire solar system will eventually be swallowed by Andromeda. In that case, why bother to struggle for or against anything at all?" www.liberalcurrents.com/the-case-aga...

The Case Against Despairwww.liberalcurrents.com In politics sometimes you’re in government, sometimes you’re in the opposition, and sometimes you’re a dissident.

"The language of internal government documents and communications is one thing. Restricting the use of a nonbinary sexual category on state-issued IDs is a far more public and frontal assault." www.liberalcurrents.com/for-non-bina...

"When the median voter is baffled that they voted for Biden but abortion got banned anyways, they are right to be puzzled." www.liberalcurrents.com/an-american-...

An American Reconstructionwww.liberalcurrents.com The revolution will take place within the modes and orders of American law even as it distorts and transforms that law.

“The arteries of the constitutional order are clotted with antidemocratic plaque.” www.liberalcurrents.com/an-american-...

An American Reconstructionwww.liberalcurrents.com The revolution will take place within the modes and orders of American law even as it distorts and transforms that law.

"Bureaucracy can be a potent tool for in-grouping and out-grouping, all the more effective because of the facelessness with which it tends to operate." www.liberalcurrents.com/for-non-bina...

For Non-binary Arkansans, No ID, No Entry Into Public Lifewww.liberalcurrents.com The governor of Arkansas has intentionally demeaned minority communities in a state where their position is already precarious.

"What’s the difference to the country, and to the world, of four more years of a Democratic presidency as opposed to an unknown number of years subjected to Donald Trump?" www.liberalcurrents.com/elections-ar...

Elections Are Purely Practicalwww.liberalcurrents.com Don’t be vain about your vote.

“We are also witnessing state-level assaults on LGBTQ Americans the likes of which we haven’t seen since the wave of same-sex marriage bans in the 2000s.” www.liberalcurrents.com/for-non-bina...

"Her preference for urban streets over manufactured parks was a key part of her philosophy." www.liberalcurrents.com/yes-to-a-liv...

Yes to a Living City: Applying Jacobs' Principles to New York's Rezoningwww.liberalcurrents.com The urbanism of Jane Jacobs, then and now.

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Liberal Currents

Casting a single vote for the better major candidate has a large positive net expected value for society, and you can very often tell who's a better candidate (especially this year!). Voting is humble, unselfish, and rational—a little chore that you should do. www.liberalcurrents.com/elections-ar...

Elections Are Purely Practicalwww.liberalcurrents.com Don’t be vain about your vote.

"As anyone who has studied authoritarian regimes and democratic backsliding knows, there is never a single inflection point where democracy dies and the flame of freedom is extinguished, never to burn again." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-case-aga...

The Case Against Despairwww.liberalcurrents.com In politics sometimes you’re in government, sometimes you’re in the opposition, and sometimes you’re a dissident.

"Green industry? Absolutely! Good union jobs? For sure! Strategic competition with China? That too! Consumer stimulus? Why not! Fine-tuning specific sectors of the economy? Sounds good!" www.liberalcurrents.com/four-questio...

Four Questions for the New Industrial Policywww.liberalcurrents.com If we want to win the policy battles that are coming, we need to start thinking more clearly about the specifics.

"At first glance, it seems like the Supreme Court has reinforced one leg of the ‘executive throne’ while whittling away at another. In reality, their goals are far more straightforward." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-courts-a...

The Courts and the Personalist Presidencywww.liberalcurrents.com The erosion of democratic institutions on behalf of lobbyists, courts, and arbitrary personalism.

“It’s still the case that your vote does improve our chances of not having a king, and your vote is worth much more than the time it takes to cast it.” www.liberalcurrents.com/elections-ar...

Elections Are Purely Practicalwww.liberalcurrents.com Don’t be vain about your vote.

"At no point in history have humans ever faced a shortage of problems." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-case-aga...

The Case Against Despairwww.liberalcurrents.com In politics sometimes you’re in government, sometimes you’re in the opposition, and sometimes you’re a dissident.

"A greater supply of housing does not necessarily lead to sprawl. By concentrating housing in the city, nature is preserved." www.liberalcurrents.com/yes-to-a-liv...

Yes to a Living City: Applying Jacobs' Principles to New York's Rezoningwww.liberalcurrents.com The urbanism of Jane Jacobs, then and now.

“In politics sometimes you’re in government, sometimes you’re in the opposition, and sometimes you’re a dissident. As of this writing, some combination of the latter two are looking more probable than not for the next 4 years in America.” www.liberalcurrents.com/the-case-aga...

The Case Against Despairwww.liberalcurrents.com In politics sometimes you’re in government, sometimes you’re in the opposition, and sometimes you’re a dissident.

“To Jacobs, a city was supposed to be about people first.” www.liberalcurrents.com/yes-to-a-liv...

Yes to a Living City: Applying Jacobs' Principles to New York's Rezoningwww.liberalcurrents.com The urbanism of Jane Jacobs, then and now.