The Retreat of Western Liberalism
2017 • 226 pages
Ratings5
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings5
Average rating3.8
In his widely acclaimed book Time to Start Thinking, Financial Times chief US columnist and commentator Edward Luce charted the course of America's relative decline, proving to be a prescient voice on our current social and political turmoil. In The Retreat of Western Liberalism, Luce makes a larger statement about the weakening of western hegemony and the crisis of liberal democracy--of which Donald Trump and his European counterparts are not the cause, but a terrifying symptom. Luce argues that we are on a menacing trajectory brought about by ignorance of what it took to build the West, arrogance towards society's economic losers, and complacency about our system's durability--attitudes that have been emerging since the fall of the Berlin Wall. We cannot move forward without a clear diagnosis of what has gone wrong. Unless the West can rekindle an economy that produces gains for the majority of its people, its political liberties may be doomed. The West's faith in history teaches us to take democracy for granted. Reality tells us something troublingly different. Combining on-the-ground reporting with intelligent synthesis of the literature and economic analysis, Luce offers a detailed projection of the consequences of the Trump administration, the rise of European populism, and a forward-thinking analysis of what those who believe in enlightenment values must do to defend them from the multiple onslaughts they face in the coming years.--Publisher description.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book had great reviews and I wanted to read a preferably politically neutral book about the election of 2016, the reasons behind it and the possible repercussions of it across the world. This is a short and fast read, with some analysis and lots of quotes from other source material (which I am not very aware of and cant be sure of their relevance and truthfulness).
Luce describes the events – both economic and political – that have led to the rise of populism in western democracies. The main reason which everyone is increasingly realizing now is the economic despair of the middle and working class people with disappearing jobs and waning salaries. What compounds this problem is how out of touch with reality are the political and intellectual elites. When economic progress becomes stagnant or takes a downturn, people's frustration needs an outlet and in the political scenario, the populists exploit this to create scapegoats and turn groups of people against each other. But in an increasingly pessimistic world, the only side a common man can turn to is the one giving hope (or the one confirming your biases) and not the one that doesn't even consider you. The effects of globalization, automation and the inability of the western governments in anticipating or handling these effects are well detailed in this book.
After describing the reasons, Luce goes into how this would probably play out in the future. His speculations are deeply disturbing and he seems to believe that Western democracies are failing and a line has been crossed from which course correction might not be possible. He also doesn't give any blanket solutions but asks everyone to be eternally vigilant. “The line between illiberal democracy and autocracy (or pluto-populism) is very thin and we will know it when we see it“. That's a scary thought but doesn't seem very unreal in these confusing times.
