WhatsappThe basic idea of liberalism is a positive thing – as long as there are guard rails that go along with it. Yoram Hazony explains clearly that the essential idea of a liberal and free society will not last for many generations if there are no red lines and clarity as to the dangers of doing whatever one feels like doing.
Marxism is simply more attractive to many of the younger Western children than old liberal ideas are. Woke morality looks at all of the old traditional aspects of life such as religion and family, and a loyalty to a national framework, and says that they are all irrelevant and outdated concepts.
That is why today’s younger generation does not see any limits or common good to be focused on. It is all a live and let live idea of life – even if it’s evil and completely against any form of being part of a common good. That is not at all the idea of liberalism. It’s liberalism gone mad.
When Ed Koch was elected time and again as Mayor of New York City, he would always say that he is a liberal – but with sanity. He understood that liberalism gone amuck was indeed a major issue to be careful of. But today, as Jordan Peterson explains, the narcissistic focus on the individual of the woke generation is literally ripping apart the younger generation, as no hierarchy exists to the young minds of today.
As these two scholars explain so clearly, everybody needs a hierarchy of some sort. But too many young people today are focused more than anything on being completely independent of anybody and anyone. Of course, being more and more independent as one matures is a positive goal. But when one’s goal is to become completely independent of everyone and everything, then there are no red lines and no reason to ever exercise self-restraint on any level. That is the reason why woke morality is bankrupt and destructive in society. A society of people who are all independent of one another is not a growthful society even if they posit to be focused on social justice.
