The Liberal Order is Not Neutral

The most common misunderstanding about the political order we live in is the assumption that it is "purely neutral" with regard to moral values and beliefs, allowing individuals to choose as they wish. In fact, it is anything but neutral, and perhaps far less neutral than the political systems to which it claims to be superior. For liberal orders by their very nature must problematize, transform, and ultimately dismantle moral and cultural structures in society which infringe upon the individual's radical freedom to choose their own way.

Church, Marriage, parenthood, moral communities, cultural traditions, local bonds, etc. The local, moral, time-bound, the holy must fade away, and the state steps in as the guarantor of our freedom over-against each other and various cultural forces.

The effect is to transform the institutions of society away from the objective and real towards the subjective and a consumptive, disincentivising moral communities and punishing individuals who express views which might threaten or call into question others’ radical freedom or authenticity. As liberalism reaches its zenith, it produces a society re-shaped around the general yet subtle rejection of belief in anything beyond collective human consciousness. As such, it is far from neutral, but from its core opposed to belief, substantial culture, and moral rules.

If we all wake up in a decade in which we suddenly feel that many moral views which were 10 years ago completely normal and healthy are too "extreme" or "oppressive" - this doesn't come from nowhere, but is precisely the result of living in a liberal order.

Late liberalism also tends to lead cultures into a slow drift away from reality, as ultimately the real world itself, known for being full of limits, can be a rather oppressive of the individual unless guarded against these limits by a protective state.

The alternative to liberalism is however not despotism, as the trademark of liberalism is not liberty, but the liberal anthropology. This anthropology assumes that the true flourishing of humanity can only ever be perfect freedom from all external coercion. This represents, however, a serious misunderstanding of human nature.