To judge by the flurry of recent books and articles, liberalism is either dead or in the ICU. Writing in Quillette, Cathy Young advises that we delude ourselves if we believe classical liberal values are approaching their end days. Every attempt to build a utopian post-liberal future, she reminds us, has invariably ended in a regression to barbarism.
Hunter Biden, the crack-smoking son of U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden, has a penchant for partying and leaving things behind. Yet even in his dissipated state, he can negotiate self-enriching deals with Ukrainian oligarchs and Chinese Communist Party apparatchiks. Such superpowers are given to few. Cockburn, writing in Spectator U.S., is envious.
Musicians rely on live performances to earn a living in the age of digital streaming. This revenue source has disappeared and the British state has told musicians to find something else. Writing in Unherd, Ian Birrel thinks this a short-sighted response, noting Britain’s music sector annually generates £5.2bn (Cdn$9 billion) and sustains – or sustained – 210,000 jobs.
Fairness and disinterestedness were ideals of American journalism. Yet in the wake of Donald Trump’s election, the liberal media abjured these principles – openly and gleefully. Victor Davis Hanson, writing in American Greatness, argues that the wokester left is utterly disdainful of American democratic norms.
Trump-bashing commentators were delighted when their nemesis was stricken with Covid-19. Writing in Spiked, Brendan O’Neill thinks many in the media hold a pre-modern view of disease, imbuing the virus with political and moral authority. Some pundits, suggests O’Neill, write as if Covid-19 has deliberately targeted the doubter-in-chief in a bid for “Karmic Justice.”
Hunter Biden, the crack-smoking son of U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden, has a penchant for partying and leaving things behind. Yet even in his dissipated state, he can negotiate self-enriching deals with Ukrainian oligarchs and Chinese Communist Party apparatchiks. Such superpowers are given to few. Cockburn, writing in Spectator U.S., is envious.
Musicians rely on live performances to earn a living in the age of digital streaming. This revenue source has disappeared and the British state has told musicians to find something else. Writing in Unherd, Ian Birrel thinks this a short-sighted response, noting Britain’s music sector annually generates £5.2bn (Cdn$9 billion) and sustains – or sustained – 210,000 jobs.
Fairness and disinterestedness were ideals of American journalism. Yet in the wake of Donald Trump’s election, the liberal media abjured these principles – openly and gleefully. Victor Davis Hanson, writing in American Greatness, argues that the wokester left is utterly disdainful of American democratic norms.
Trump-bashing commentators were delighted when their nemesis was stricken with Covid-19. Writing in Spiked, Brendan O’Neill thinks many in the media hold a pre-modern view of disease, imbuing the virus with political and moral authority. Some pundits, suggests O’Neill, write as if Covid-19 has deliberately targeted the doubter-in-chief in a bid for “Karmic Justice.”
