The Retreat of Western Liberalism

Posted on 10 October 2017 by Edward Luce

In his widely acclaimed book Time to Start Thinking, Financial Times chief US columnist and commentator Edward Luce charted the course of America s relative decline, proving to be a prescient voice on our current social and political turmoil.In The Retreat of Western Liberalism, Luce makes a larger statement about the weakening of western hegemony and the crisis of liberal democracy of which Donald Trump and his European counterparts are not the cause, but a terrifying symptom Luce argues that we are on a menacing trajectory brought about by ignorance of what it took to build the West, arrogance towards society s economic losers, and complacency about our system s durability attitudes that have been emerging since the fall of the Berlin Wall We cannot move forward without a clear diagnosis of what has gone wrong Unless the West can rekindle an economy that produces gains for the majority of its people, its political liberties may be doomed The West s faith in history teaches us to take democracy for granted Reality tells us something troublingly different.Combining on the ground reporting with intelligent synthesis of the literature and economic analysis, Luce offers a detailed projection of the consequences of the Trump administration, the rise of European populism, and a forward thinking analysis of what those who believe in enlightenment values must do to defend them from the multiple onslaughts they face in the coming years. New Read The Retreat of Western Liberalism By Edward Luce For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Description Luce makes a larger statement about the weakening of Western hegemony and the crisis of liberal democracy of which Donald Trump and his European counterparts are not the cause, but a terrifying symptom Luce argues that we are on a menacing trajectory brought about bgy ignorance of what it took to build the West , arrogance towards society s losers, and complacency about our system s durability attitudes that have been emerging since the fall of the Berlin Wall.Nearly three deca Description Luce makes a larger statement about the weakening of Western hegemony and the crisis of liberal democracy of which Donald Trump and his European counterparts are not the cause, but a terrifying symptom Luce argues that we are on a menacing trajectory brought about bgy ignorance of what it took to build the West , arrogance towards society s losers, and complacency about our system s durability attitudes that have been emerging since the fall of the Berlin Wall.Nearly three decades later, in the aftermath of Donald Trump s 2016 election victory, I found myself in Moscow I had been invited to attend a conference on the polycentric world order , which is Russian for post American world page 6 Europe and America s populist right wants to turn the clock bac...Edward Luce s THE RETREAT OF WESTERN LIBERALISM was written in the aftermath of Hillary Clinton s surprising loss in November 2016 But the preface to this fascinating little book begins with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 That was a heady time Many believed that western style commercial democracy had prevailed and our future as a species ever after would be enlightened and democratic Francis Fukuyama was predicting the end of history The supremacy of Western thought was a given and now Edward Luce s THE RETREAT OF WESTERN LIBERALISM was written in the aftermath of Hillary Clinton s surprising loss in November 2016 But the preface to this fascinating little book begins with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 That was a heady time Many believed that western style commercial democracy had prevailed and our future as a species ever after would be enlightened and democratic Francis Fukuyama was predicting the end of history The supremacy of Western thought was a given and now the rift in the West had been healed.Of course, history had other ideas Here we are nearly 30 years later and Moscow is hosting conferences on the polycentric world order, a Russian euphemism for post American world That leaves some of us principled conservatives, classical liberals and centrists wondering if the American experiment has run its course Luce s response to that question ismaybe if we don t take serious corrective action Luce is an English journalist He was Washingt...Edward Luce is a tremendous journalist Not only does he work very hard, not only has he earned access to some of the sharpest minds in business and politics, he also commands the mightiest pen at the Financial Times, bar none.And that s why I bought his previous book, Time to Start Thinking I did not much enjoy it, though In fact I thought it a waste of my reading time, about whichlater But long after the average sensible reader would have dismissed Time to Start Thinking, he might Edward Luce is a tremendous journalist Not only does he work very hard, not only has he earned access to some of the sharpest minds in business and politics, he also commands the mightiest pen at the Financial Times, bar none.And that s why I bought his previous book, Time to Start Thinking I did not much enjoy it, though In fact I thought it a waste of my reading time, about whichlater But long after the average sensible reader would have dismissed Time to Start Thinking, he might recall that on page 247 of this 2012 book Edward Luce pretty much predicted that Donald Trump might one day become president, and why.So the man has form.That s terrible news, because on pages 145 153 of The Retreat of Western Liberalism the oracle of 1 Southwark Bridge, SE1 yes, I admit it, I looked up the FT s addre...Sadly I was expecting a lotfrom this book Edward Luce proves himself far better at looking behind than looking forward, which means the first part is excellent but the subsequent three are a disaster He suffers from the typical liberal blind spots which result in a complete misreading of Trump s populism and the driving principles of the resurgent nationalist movements That he sees Trump as a greater threat to American democracy than the Marxist attack on its culture and academic instit Sadly I was expecting a lotfrom this book Edward Luce proves himself far better at looking behind than looking forward, which means the first part is excellent but the subsequent three are a disaster He suffers from the typical liberal blind spots which result in a complete misreading of Trump s populism and the driving principles of the resurgent nationalist movements That he sees Trump as a greater threat to American democracy than the Marxist attack on its culture and academic institutions places him clearly on the ideological spectrum He mostly dismisses the conservative voter base as ignorant and dumb, proving he has no idea who they are, and is himself ignorant of the vapidity of the moral claims of the left.If he had read Douglas Murray he could have saved himself the embarrassment of his wrongfooted assessments of Merkel, Europe and the immigration problem Merkel s covert dealings with Putin have positioned her and Ge...The Retreat of Western Liberalism by Edward Luce, is an interesting book examining the recent reverses in traditional Liberal Democracy experienced globally Luce focuses on the political philosophy of this trend, and examines global ideas, situations and data, from the US and UK, to Hungary, Turkey, China, India and so on Luce s book is fascinating in that it looks at the big ideas behind this step toward autocracy, and covers a wide arrange of topics, from Western Exceptionalism, to internati The Retreat of Western Liberalism by Edward Luce, is an interesting book examining the recent reverses in traditional Liberal Democracy experienced globally Luce focuses on the political philosophy of this trend, and examines global ideas, situations and data, from the US and UK, to Hungary, Turkey, China, India and so on Luce s book is fascinating in that it looks at the big ideas behind this step toward autocracy, and covers a wide arrange of topics, from Western Exceptionalism, to international diplomacy, to social and cultural ideas, to immigration and identity politics This is a fascinating book that takes a deeper look at the issues currently faced in the worlds Western Liberal democracies, and how the erosion of western hegemony is leading to...This was a well written, if arch, and occasionally paternalistic condescending anti Trump volume I d still recommend reading it since the author does seem to hit upon some valuable insights tying various disciplines together and drawing upon history for parallels to the current alarming political situation However, it s people like Luce that created a monster like Trump in the first place Neoliberalism didn t lead to the greatest good for the greatest number of people It led to extreme inc This was a well written, if arch, and occasionally paternalistic condescending anti Trump volume I d still recommend reading it since the author does seem to hit upon some valuable insights tying various disciplines together and drawing upon history for parallels to the current alarming political situation However, it s people like Luce that created a monster like Trump in the first place Neoliberalism didn t lead to the greatest good for the greatest number of people It led to extreme income inequality Luce doesn t have a solution he s in the camp of those that made the neoliberal recommendations in the first place There could have been a swing to aegalitarian system, instead a phony like Trump got elected yet another manifestation of the same ruling class albeit decked out as a populist, which is why...This book is littered with confused, overly reductive arguments, and peppered with lots and lots of illiberalism And it s not really saying anything very new or original I think we ve all realized by this point that Western liberalism is on the wane I was in India when Modi came to power, and in the US when Donald Trump did We also know that the inequality has proliferated in the past few decades, creating grotesque forms of disparity between and within countries Middle and working classes This book is littered with confused, overly reductive arguments, and peppered with lots and lots of illiberalism And it s not really saying anything very new or original I think we ve all realized by this point that Western liberalism is on the wane I was in India when Modi came to power, and in the US when Donald Trump did We also know that the inequality has proliferated in the past few decades, creating grotesque forms of disparity between and within countries Middle and working classes in the Wes...Page 186 my book There is a line between convincing people of the merits of a case and suggesting they are moral outcasts if they fail to see it Liberal America crossed that line long before Obama took office. This book is depressing Maybe because it talked a lot about the current leader of the United States and his constant affronts to democratic values The title could just as easily have been The Collapse of Western Civilization.The author foresees a coming military confrontation between Page 186 my book There is a line between convincing people of the merits of a case and suggesting they are moral outcasts if they fail to see it Liberal America crossed that line long before Obama took office. This book is depressing Maybe because it talked a lot about the current leader of the United States and his constant affronts to democratic values The title could just as easily have been The Collapse of Western Civilization.The author foresees a coming military confrontation between China and the ...This book was like a very long, very engaging Facebook post that consolidates a lot of the general news and trends that most of us are already concerned with today In sum, it is about Donald Trump, Brexit, the Thucydides trap, AI, the future of work, electoral populism and a number of other topics that you are probably thinking about if you still read the news Luce provides a nice run down of why these issues are important to our future, but nothing he says is likely to come as a surprise to a This book was like a very long, very engaging Facebook post that consolidates a lot of the general news and trends that most of us are already concerned with today In sum, it is about Donald Trump, Brexit, the Thucydides trap, AI, the future of work, electoral populism and a number of other topics that you are probably thinking about if you still read the news Luce provides a nice run down of why these issues are important to our future, but nothing he says is likely to come as a surprise to an informed reader What I was really hoping for were some solutions, but like many similar books this one was short on those Identifying the problems is easy, coming up with constructive ideas is muchof a challenge.Having said that, and despite the grandiose title and sombre cover, this is actually a very unpr...Insightful, clear headed, very readable and to my mind right in all the particulars A slim volume with a very large and critically important message The trend we ve seen in technology AI, automation, social media , politics growing polarization , economics, etc., are coming together into what might easily become a perfect storm if we don t address them His key point For nearly a century, we ve believed that Western liberal democracy is the form of government most people want and that Insightful, clear headed, very readable and to my mind right in all the particulars A slim volume with a very large and critically important message The trend we ve seen in technology AI, automation, social media , politics growing polarization , economics, etc., are coming together into what might easily become a perfect storm if we don t address them His key point For nearly a century, we ve believed that Western liberal democracy is the form of government most people want and that it is quite...I d give this book ten stars if I could This is a brilliant, lucid analysis of the building crisis in Western democracy that I think we re all starting to feel in one way or another Mercifully, it s written by a Brit it s impossible to read an American s opinions about American politics without investing those opinions with a ton of imagined baggage and backstory Luce, however, paints our system with a steady and even handed brush that feels emotionally removed from the fray It s been fun I d give this book ten stars if I could This is a brilliant, lucid analysis of the building crisis in Western democracy that I think we re all starting to feel in one way or another Mercifully, it s written by a Brit it s impossible to read an American s opinions about American politics without investing those opinions with a ton of imagined baggage and backstory Luce, however, paints our system with a steady and even handed brush that feels emotionally removed from the fray It s been fun I can t even think of the last time I read a political piece by anyone and didn t roll my eyes and grumble you idiot at least a few times Ok, so her...Here is yet another book about what is happening to Western civilization This one is mainly based on economics, which makes it evendepressing It is one thing to challenge the intellectual rot in our universities, but trying to change an economy that is threatening to disenfranchise most of our citizens is a muchformidable task Several things are happening at once First, the economic growth we take as our birthright is over in the West because the economy, and the power that goes Here is yet another book about what is happening to Western civilization This one is mainly based on economics, which makes it evendepressing It is one thing to challenge the intellectual rot in our universities, but trying to change an economy that is threatening to disenfranchise most of our citizens is a muchformidable task Several things are happening at once First, the economic growth we take as our birthright is over in the West because the economy, and the power that goes with it, is shifting to the East Second, many of the jobs that are left are going to disappear due to artificial intelligence Third, our own countries are turning into a few urban islands of privilege surrounded by a hinterland from which we extract a few resources and their smartest people.The natural reaction is the rise of the populist right Luce does not like this, but he recognizes that we should try to understand ...Luce seems like the type who has gone to Davos quite a bit I sense his sympathy is with that crowd He certainly sounds like he is pretty familiar with that set He is however far from sanguine about the prospects for liberal democracy in what we call the west His grim analysis which I agree in many parts to his proposed ways out which I agree in somewhat fewer parts is an elite wake up call to his buddies how grim things are I agree things are grim and may play out the way he fears but as h Luce seems like the type who has gone to Davos quite a bit I sense his sympathy is with that crowd He certainly sounds like he is pretty familiar with that set He is however far from sanguine about the prospects for liberal democracy in what we call the west His grim analysis which I agree in many parts to his proposed ways out which I agree in somewhat fewer parts is an elite wake up call to his buddies how grim things are I agree things are grim and may play out the way he fears but as he quotes from polls rich elites have less faith in democracy in the west than the populists he fears Liberal Democra...

10 October 2017

Edward Luce