The Lethal Consensus: How Liberals Lost the War of Ideas

[Celerity]

Bold visions defeat timid reforms—yet liberals insist on bringing policy briefs to an ideological gunfight.

https://www.socialeurope.eu/the-lethal-consensus-how-liberals-lost-the-war-of-ideas



The political tides are turning across the Western world. Forces determined to demolish the post-war global order are advancing with alarming speed, and surprisingly little appears capable of stopping them. Drawing on new research on European integration, I argue that liberals’ unpreparedness for these seismic shifts stems from something far deeper than short-term material grievances. They may simply have exhausted their supply of compelling visions for the future.

The power of political storytelling

A familiar refrain echoes through analyses of far-right success: voters are somehow dissatisfied with the status quo. In response, policymakers instinctively retreat to “deliverism”, banking on technical reforms and incremental adjustments to “fix” the far right out of existence. Yet mounting evidence suggests this approach misreads the moment, pointing instead to the necessity of long-term strategic thinking.

Taking this critique seriously demands acknowledging an uncomfortable truth: political triumph requires more than competent management. It demands a sweeping narrative of transformation—a vision of a different and better future that can capture the imagination of those alienated by current arrangements. The resounding victories of economically destructive movements from Brexit to Trumpism demonstrate that methodical tweaks to existing systems, however rational they appear on paper, cannot compete with bold narratives of radical change.

Restoring political equilibrium therefore requires, among many prerequisites, achieving a balance of ideas. Whether the battlefield concerns democracy, liberal rights, or the international order, the radical right offers clear, tangible proposals for transformation that effortlessly overshadow liberal incrementalism. Meanwhile, liberals have systematically eroded their own once-promising narratives by retreating from ambitious reform, leaving their ideas threadbare through overuse and underdelivery.

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[leftstreet]

1. DURec

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. There are still liberals with compelling visions for the future

But they are continually shouted down and sabotaged (with eager assistance from media hacks like David Brooks and Ezra Klein) by the performative centrists urging pragmatic incrementalism, claiming the liberals’ “radical” ideas will cause the left to lose elections and become a permanent minority.

And in the US. we have forty years of evidence on how that turned out.

[Aristus]

3. We lost it by having ideas.

Right-wingers don't have ideas. They have grievances. Stupid, petty, meaningless grievances. But still.