grillofjustice 's review for:

Liberalism and Its Discontents by Francis Fukuyama

4.0

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I found this book thought provoking. Several times I found myself arguing out loud with the author's take but I found that I agreed with most of what he said. But I want to gripe about something that this author tries to do. He tries to equate the "progressive left" and the "far right" and that just doesn't vibe with me. His take on the far right is bang on because it's a pretty easy movement to pin down. Capitalism, nationalism, and White Ethno State. But to lump progressives in with them as the opposite side of the spectrum seems dishonest. The idea that progressives are some authoritarian force is silly. Progressive politics are a response to real authoritarianism handed down by past generations and any attempts to paint them otherwise should be laughed out of the room. I'll admit that progressivism has used authoritarian style tactics against authoritarianism itself. Basically using the equivalent of using the enemy's weapon against them. Intolerance of intolerance is not technically intolerance, in my book.

One point I found interesting was his observation that all the people who criticize Liberalism fail to bring a better way forward to the table. "Liberalism is the worst political ideology, except for all the other ones." The author stated that this is an example of why Liberalism maintains its hold on society. This again brings me back to progressive politics. PP are critiques, not denunciations. They are ways that Liberalism can put up or shut up.