Liberalism as Humanity's Greatest Technology: Key Insights

Jonathan Roush, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, discusses liberalism as humanity's most revolutionary technology, the modern threats it faces, and its surprising reliance on Christianity.

Liberalism: Humanity's Greatest Technology

Liberalism, at its core, is a political theory and a social technology that offers a unique and effective way to organize large numbers of people, most of whom are strangers. It contrasts sharply with traditional top-down hierarchical systems like monarchies or priesthoods. Instead of rulers, liberalism emphasizes rules; instead of coercion, it fosters cooperation; and instead of hierarchies, it promotes equality, where individuals are interchangeable in principle. This leads to concepts like universal suffrage, equal market access, and replicable scientific experimentation.

Historically, in the United States, "liberalism" often referred to a left-leaning political doctrine supporting government programs. However, Roush uses the term in its classical sense, referring to the doctrine that "all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights," a concept central to the U.S. Founding Fathers.

Liberalism manifests through three main social systems:

1. Liberal Markets (Capitalism): This system, theorized by Adam Smith, involves a marketplace where individuals negotiate through mechanisms like prices. It's important to distinguish this from libertarianism, which advocates for minimal government intervention and strong property rights. Classical liberalism, as envisioned by Smith and other great liberal thinkers, allows for government provision of essential public services like education and acknowledges the need for rules and regulations to define market boundaries and address issues like monopolies.
2. Liberal Democracy: In the U.S., this system, built by the Founding Fathers, is based on the consent of the governed through voting, multiple branches of government with checks and balances, multiple levels of government, and, crucially, equality before the law. It ensures no special treatment based on identity.
3. Liberal Science: Often overlooked, this system is vital for finding truth and resolving disagreements peacefully and realistically. Unlike traditional methods that relied on priests, oracles, or sacred texts, liberal science demands a constant exchange of criticism according to rules. Experiments must be replicable, and no one can shut down conversation through force. This process underpins modern science, journalism, and law, creating an open-ended, rules-based truth-seeking system. Roush considers it the most important and successful of the three, as it has driven unprecedented technological and knowledge advancements.

These three systems operate on shared principles: reliance on rules, depersonalization, and equality within the system.

Key Characteristics of Liberalism

Liberalism possesses several revolutionary traits:

• Decentralized: There is no single "president of liberal world." Power is distributed across various institutions, preventing corruption and ensuring a broader flow of information. This is evident in markets (as a giant information processing machine), science (with researchers and institutions worldwide), and democracy (with multiple levels and branches of government).
• Depersonalized: Ideally, an individual's identity should not affect outcomes. Whether it's a scientific experiment, market rules, or voting, the system aims for interchangeability, allowing for coordination among millions or billions of people. This also safeguards freedom by preventing authoritarian command.
• Consensual and Non-Coercive: Liberalism seeks alternatives to force, minimizing coercion and instead providing incentives for cooperation. This is seen in Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" and in science, where persuasion and experimentation drive knowledge creation, rather than authoritarian decrees.
• Self-Correcting: Unlike other systems, liberalism has an inherent direction of progress towards greater equality, human rights, knowledge, freedom, and economic growth. It constantly identifies and corrects mistakes, even if it takes time (as seen with issues like slavery or Jim Crow laws). The internal conflicts and contradictions within liberalism are not flaws but features, driving dynamism and change while maintaining overall stability.

Liberalism is challenging because it demands individuals to set aside tribal affiliations, cooperate with strangers, and protect minority rights—behaviors that are often counterintuitive to human nature. Therefore, its principles must be continually re-explained and defended.

The Products of Liberalism

Liberalism yields tangible benefits:

• Freedom: Rooted in the idea of free and equal individuals, it provides built-in safeguards against authoritarianism.
• Prosperity: Unlike other systems, liberalism has consistently generated economic growth, which is often taken for granted today.
• Knowledge: It enables humanity to produce an accelerating amount of new knowledge, far surpassing previous eras. It also fosters agreement through evidence and rational argumentation.
• Peace: Liberalism strives to resolve disputes through non-coercive, cooperative means, preventing conflicts and violence. Liberal markets allocate resources without war, liberal democracies foster compromise, and liberal science settles disputes about reality without resorting to violence (unlike historical religious wars).

Roush emphasizes that liberalism is not just an abstract theory but a crucial social technology that enables unprecedented peace, freedom, knowledge, and prosperity on a global scale.

The Constitution of Knowledge

A critical, often overlooked, aspect of liberalism is the "constitution of knowledge." This refers to the institutions, norms, and rules that structure humanity's collective search for truth. While not a single written document, it's embodied in the principles of academic associations, journalistic ethics, legal evidence standards, and scientific methodology.

This system is designed to cope with inherent human cognitive biases. By forcing individuals to subject their beliefs to the criticism and scrutiny of others, and to persuade through evidence and reason, it harnesses biases against each other to produce truth. This structure is analogous to the U.S. Constitution's system of checks and balances, where "ambition is pitted against ambition" to force compromise and consensus.

The constitution of knowledge is robust due to its decentralized, open-ended, non-coercive, and self-adjusting nature. However, it is also fragile. It requires more than just free speech; it demands adherence to rigorous rules and disciplines, which take decades to master. Furthermore, it is inherently "hostile" to beliefs that contradict established reality, such as creationism or anti-vaccination sentiments. Authoritarians, who seek to control reality, often target and dismantle the constitution of knowledge because it represents a power they cannot control.

The Global Backlash to Liberalism

Liberalism has always faced opposition, from the Church's persecution of Galileo to Marxism, theocracies, and fascism. Today, it faces a new crisis, marked by rapid social change and shocks like 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19, and the rise of social media. These events have eroded confidence in liberal institutions, which, due to their decentralized and rules-based nature, adapt slowly.

Illiberalism, which predates liberalism, encompasses any system that disputes the core idea of human equality and freedom. Modern illiberal movements include:

• Post-liberalism: Found on both the right and left, these groups argue that liberalism is outdated and destructive to faith, family, community, or national identity. They include theological critics who see liberalism as hostile to God, nationalist post-liberals who believe it dissolves social ties, and opponents of capitalism.
• Postmodern Illiberalism (Academic Left): This perspective denies objective reality, viewing truth as a construct of power and discourse. It critiques science as a tool of privileged groups and questions the very importance of truth.

Roush identifies two major contemporary challenges to the constitution of knowledge:

1. Cancel Culture (Far Left): This involves using social mechanisms (often via social media) to punish dissent and create a "false consensus" by intimidating individuals into silence or conformity. While its peak may have passed, it remains a threat to open debate and viewpoint diversity.
2. Anti-Liberal Propaganda (Right): This involves "flooding the zone with shit," a tactic of disinformation that overwhelms people with false narratives, half-truths, and conspiracy theories. The goal is not to persuade with a single lie but to induce cynicism and fatalism, making people passive. Donald Trump is cited as a master of this technique, using tactics like "reversal" and inconsistent narratives to disorient the public. This type of cognitive manipulation, originating from Russian propaganda, is a global phenomenon and a significant threat to reality-based governance.

Roush warns that when government itself propagates false narratives, it flirts with totalitarianism, as historical totalitarian regimes have always sought to control truth. While the U.S. is not yet a fascist country, the MAGA movement's tactics, which include valorizing violence, rejecting rational deliberation, using paramilitary forces, and adopting a "friend-enemy" political philosophy (as described by Carl Schmitt), are deeply concerning and risk acculturating a major political party to a fascist way of thinking.

The Surprising Link Between Liberalism and Christianity

A common criticism of liberalism is that it fails to provide a larger sense of meaning or purpose in life. Roush agrees with a "weaker" version of this critique: liberalism is necessary but not sufficient. It deliberately creates space for individuals and communities to define their own meaning, but it doesn't answer ultimate questions about good and evil or life's purpose. For these, individuals must look to other sources.

A "stronger" critique, often from the illiberal right, argues that liberalism is inherently destructive to core values like faith, family, and community, leading to self-destruction. Roush refutes this, pointing to 350 years of history showing that faith institutions thrive in societies where individuals are free to choose their beliefs. The U.S. Founders understood that government intervention endangers religion and that true faith must be freely chosen.

However, Roush acknowledges that secular liberals have often overlooked the importance of faith traditions, particularly Christianity, as an underpinning for democracy. Liberal democracy relies on external sources for many of its values, and Christianity, America's founding faith tradition, can provide a bulwark against authoritarianism.

Roush, an "atheistic Jew," argues that the core principles of Jesus Christ align remarkably well with the core virtues of liberalism, as articulated by James Madison:

1. "Don't be afraid": This Christian injunction to look beyond worldly fears and trust in God's plan translates to the liberal virtue of not fearing electoral loss. It encourages citizens to approach political outcomes with a spirit of adventure, learning, and sharing the country, rather than resorting to extreme measures to prevent the other side from winning.
2. "Imitate Jesus" (radical egalitarianism): Jesus's message of inherent equality and dignity for all humans, especially the poor and outcast, directly mirrors the Declaration of Independence's assertion that "all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights." This is the core doctrine of liberalism itself.
3. "Forgive each other": This difficult commandment, leading to doctrines of mercy and grace, translates into the liberal principle of forbearance. In a liberal democracy, winning an election should not mean obliterating the opposition. Instead, it means treating opponents with respect, as one would wish to be treated when out of power, fostering reciprocity and trust. This contrasts sharply with the fascist goal of crushing enemies.

These three Christian values and liberal virtues are mutually reinforcing, like two planks leaning against each other. The Founders hoped that Christianity would provide a moral "substrate" for civil society, supporting democracy.

Roush expresses concern about the current state of white evangelical Christianity in America, which has become politicized and fused with the Republican Party. This "church of fear" prioritizes winning culture wars over Christ-like behavior, leading to:

• Shrinking congregations: Many are alienated by the partisan message.
• Toxic partisanship: People seek transcendent meaning in politics, which is ill-suited for it.
• Apocalyptic narratives: Elections become existential battles, endangering liberal democracy.

Roush distinguishes between three types of churches:

1. Thin Church (Mainline Protestantism): These churches became culturally diluted, blending into the surrounding society and losing their distinct countercultural message.
2. Sharp Church (White Evangelicalism): This form of secularization narrows Christianity, making adherence to specific political views (e.g., on homosexuality, abortion, supporting the Republican Party) a condition of faith. This sharpens the message, making it divisive and partisan, and ultimately shrinks the church.
3. Thick Church: This ideal form of Christianity creates strong community bonds, offers transcendent meaning, and adheres to scriptural teachings, while also being in harmony with liberal democracy. It maintains a distinct countercultural identity but supports a pluralistic society.

The concept of civic theology is crucial for the thick church. It addresses how Christians should behave in public life, particularly in politics and on social media. It challenges the division between personal piety and public conduct, urging Christians to be Christ-like in all spheres, practicing kindness, forgiveness, and negotiation rather than domination.

Roush highlights the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an example of a "thick church" with a developed civic theology. They advocate for "patience, negotiation, and mutual accommodation" in public life, demonstrating this by supporting landmark legislation that federally recognized same-sex marriage while also protecting their church's right not to recognize it. This exemplifies the Founders' vision of a strong church that supports a strong civil society.

Roush concludes by urging Christians to elevate the core principles of Jesus (don't be afraid, imitate Jesus, forgive each other) in their public engagement. He believes this would benefit both democracy and Christianity itself, making it more appealing to a broader population. For secular liberals, he argues for a "rediscovery" of the importance of healthy Christianity, recognizing it as a "load-bearing wall" in American democracy that needs to be strengthened.