{"id":39886,"date":"2025-01-16T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T17:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=39886"},"modified":"2025-01-10T09:56:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T17:56:32","slug":"the-problem-with-liberty-and-rugged-individualism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-problem-with-liberty-and-rugged-individualism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Problem with Liberty and Rugged Individualism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Start. Stop. But wait, there\u2019s another question. What about this or that?<\/strong> Articulating my thoughts about liberal democracy proved challenging as I ventured down several rabbit trails. In this blog, I\u2019ll share my initial views on liberal democracy and how they evolved after reading Patrick Deneen\u2019s Why Liberalism Failed<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have frequently printed the word Democracy. Yet I cannot too often repeat that it is a word the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawaken\u2019d\u201d \u2013 Walt Whitman[1]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A few months ago, I had a debate with my State Senator about voting methods. He dismissed ranked choice voting, thinking it would edge him out. I asked, \u201cIsn\u2019t that what democracy is about?\u201d He replied, \u201cWe\u2019re a republic, not a democracy.\u201d Admittedly, I was stumped and not prepared for his response. This moment brought to light how the meanings of words have become distorted over time. My Generation X understanding of political terms, gender, and other cultural concepts often causes me to revisit dictionaries. While this shift in language can be frustrating and time-consuming, I believe it is especially relevant because it will impact the future of artificial intelligence, where language plays a key role in computer coding.<\/p>\n

Initial Perspectives on Liberal Democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n

I grew up in the early 1970s in a lower-middle-class, single-parent home, where survival\u2014paying bills, securing food, and making ends meet\u2014was the top priority. My experience mirrored many in my community, where we shared resources and helped one another out of necessity. Although this was during America\u2019s economic golden age[2]<\/a>, the benefits hardly extended to families like mine. Our values emphasized helping marginalized people, showing respect, and working hard to achieve what little we could. The government, I was taught, should protect us from external threats, such as military invasions. One family story that stuck with me was when my mother\u2019s school was closed unexpectedly one afternoon due to fears of a nuclear strike during the Bay of Pigs crisis.<\/p>\n

Reflections After Reading Patrick Deneen\u2019s Book<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patrick Deneen\u2019s Why Liberalism Failed<\/em> challenged my understanding of liberal democracy. He argues that \u201cLiberalism has failed because liberalism has succeeded.\u201d[3]<\/a> \u00a0The word “liberal” comes from the Latin for “free,” as in free from slavery or tether to another, but Deneen suggests that liberalism\u2019s emphasis on liberty and freedom has led to social fragmentation. The focus on individualism has weakened communal ties. Rather than depending on each other and considering the greater good, we now depend on market forces that have eroded family values and contributed to global capitalism\u2019s rise, which has widened the wealth gap.<\/p>\n

Deneen\u2019s perspective, which I agree with, was eye-opening. While American Democrats tend to champion a \u201clive and let live\u201d philosophy, Republicans often advocate for strong individualism and traditional values, which Deneen categorizes as liberal. This shift in terminology caused me to pause and question my understanding of political labels. It also made me reflect on how both parties, despite their ideological differences, share the same language and liberal roots, prioritizing individualism over community. Reinforced by movies of the Old West, author David Brooks said Republicans in the U.S. \u201cgenerally admire John Wayne-style heroes who are rugged, individualistic and brave and who celebrate their core themes of freedom, individualism, opportunity, and moral clarity.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

One insight that resonated with me is that liberal democracy has created a culture of consumption rather than critical thinking. The rise of STEM education has pushed students to focus on technological progress and new knowledge, such as the rush toward artificial intelligence, rather than classical philosophies prioritizing deep thinking about the human experience. Universities now encourage disrupting old ideas in favor of new methods that further commodify humanity, which should have us questioning what it means to be human.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, reading Deneen\u2019s critique of liberal democracy forced me to confront how shifting definitions shaped my beliefs about individualism, freedom, and community. While I recognize the merit of his arguments, I\u2019m left grappling with how to reconcile liberal values with the need for societal cohesion in a world that continues to evolve rapidly.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Whitman, Walt. Democratic Vistas<\/em>. Legare Street Press, 1871.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cGDP – Gross Domestic Product 1975 | Countryeconomy.Com.\u201d Accessed January 10, 2025. https:\/\/countryeconomy.com\/gdp?year=1975.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Deneen, Patrick J., James Davison Hunter, and John M. Owen. Why Liberalism Failed<\/em>. Paperback edition. New Haven London: Yale University Press, 2018. p. 179<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Brooks, David. \u201cThe Long Voyage Home.\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, May 4, 2009, sec. Opinion. https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/05\/05\/opinion\/05brooks.html.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Start. Stop. But wait, there\u2019s another question. What about this or that? Articulating my thoughts about liberal democracy proved challenging as I ventured down several rabbit trails. In this blog, I\u2019ll share my initial views on liberal democracy and how they evolved after reading Patrick Deneen\u2019s Why Liberalism Failed. \u201cWe have frequently printed the word […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3392],"class_list":["post-39886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-deneen-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39888,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39886\/revisions\/39888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}