Claim Your Inner Liberal
Some conservatives are inwardly liberal, though they do not call it liberalism. They call it being grateful, playful, open-hearted, humble, tolerant, life-loving, and able to enjoy the company of people who are different from themselves. In doing so, they participate in what the philosopher Andrew Lefebvre calls “the liberal way of life.”
Conversely, some self-described liberals lack these qualities. They may be firmly committed to their liberal political principles, but they are not humble or grateful, tolerant or life-loving, and they may not enjoy the presence of those who think differently from them, especially if they are conservative.
The ideal is for conservative and liberals alike to claim their inner liberal, naming it otherwise if they must.
It can help to imagine the liberal way of life not primarily as a political identity but as a way of living—a set of dispositions that people can embody in many different ways, sometimes quite apart from their political views. In this sense, these dispositions resemble what Christians call the fruits of the Spirit.
Jesus compared the Spirit to a gentle yet uncontrollable wind that blows where it will, moving around and within people whenever they are open to it.
So go ahead: claim your inner liberal.
Conversely, some self-described liberals lack these qualities. They may be firmly committed to their liberal political principles, but they are not humble or grateful, tolerant or life-loving, and they may not enjoy the presence of those who think differently from them, especially if they are conservative.
The ideal is for conservative and liberals alike to claim their inner liberal, naming it otherwise if they must.
It can help to imagine the liberal way of life not primarily as a political identity but as a way of living—a set of dispositions that people can embody in many different ways, sometimes quite apart from their political views. In this sense, these dispositions resemble what Christians call the fruits of the Spirit.
Jesus compared the Spirit to a gentle yet uncontrollable wind that blows where it will, moving around and within people whenever they are open to it.
So go ahead: claim your inner liberal.
Seventeen Reasons to Be Liberal
....a key purpose of my book is to demonstrate how a liberal way of life has rewards for those who commit to it, as distinct from its wider effects on our societies, or the advancement of democracy and social justice. Being liberal is an intrinsically fulfilling, generous, and fun way to be.
Lefebvre, Alexandre. Liberalism as a Way of Life (p. 18). Princeton University Press. Kindle Edition.
Make no mistake, the philosopher Alexandre Lefebvre believes that a liberal way of life can and shoul have a wider and positive effect on our societies, and that it can and should advance democracy and social justice. It can support meaningful political aspirations.
But we miss the heart of liberalism if we think of it only in political terms. In Liberalism as a Way of Life, Lefebvre outlines seventeen personal and practical benefits of adopting a liberal mindset, focusing on enhancing one’s daily life rather than just political policy. Here is my paraphrase of the perks as identified in the ninth chapter of this book, titled "Seventeen Reasons to be Liberal."
- Impartiality — Liberalism trains you to judge fairly rather than simply in your own interest.
- Autonomy — Liberalism helps you live as a self-directing person who reflects and chooses for yourself even as you are informed by wisdom from the past.
- Anti-snobbery — Liberalism discourages looking down on others because of status, class, or background.
- Playfulness — Liberalism allows you to hold your identity and opinions with lightness rather than rigidity.
- Stalwartness — Liberalism strengthens your ability to stand firm in your principles under pressure.
- Feeling at home in society — Liberalism enables you to feel comfortable living among people who are different from you.
- Gratitude — Liberalism cultivates appreciation for the freedoms and institutions that sustain your life.
- Self-coherence — Liberalism encourages your beliefs and actions to fit together in an integrated way.
- Avoidance of hypocrisy — Liberalism challenges you to align your conduct with your stated values.
- Humility — Liberalism reminds you that you may be wrong and that others deserve a hearing.
- Unity of the self — Liberalism helps you become inwardly steady rather than fragmented across roles.
- Gracefulness — Liberalism fosters restraint and tact in moments of disagreement or conflict.
- Delight in others — Liberalism encourages genuine enjoyment of people unlike yourself.
- Tolerance — Liberalism trains you to live peacefully with deep disagreement.
- Civility — Liberalism promotes respectful conduct in public and private life.
- Cheer — Liberalism supports an affirmative and hopeful stance toward shared life.
- Redemption — Liberalism keeps open the possibility that people can change and relationships can be repaired.
Liberalism as a Way of Life
Where do you get your values and sensibilities from? If you grew up in a Western democracy, the answer is probably liberalism. Conservatives are right about one thing: liberalism is the ideology of our times, as omnipresent as religion once was. Yet, as Alexandre Lefebvre argues in Liberalism as a Way of Life, many of us are liberal without fully realizing it—or grasping what it means. Misled into thinking that liberalism is confined to politics, we fail to recognize that it’s the water we swim in, saturating every area of public and private life, shaping our psychological and spiritual outlooks, and influencing our moral and aesthetic values—our sense of what is right, wrong, good, bad, funny, worthwhile, and more. This eye-opening book shows how so many of us are liberal to the core, why liberalism provides the basis for a good life, and how we can make our lives better and happier by becoming more aware of, and more committed to, the beliefs we already hold.
A lively, engaging, and uplifting guide to living well, the liberal way, Liberalism as a Way of Life is filled with examples from television, movies, stand-up comedy, and social media—from Parks and Recreation and The Good Place to the Borat movies and Hannah Gadsby. Along the way, you’ll also learn about seventeen benefits of being a liberal—including generosity, humor, cheer, gratitude, tolerance, and peace of mind—and practical exercises to increase these rewards.
You’re probably already waist-deep in the waters of liberalism. Liberalism as a Way of Life invites you to dive in.
A lively, engaging, and uplifting guide to living well, the liberal way, Liberalism as a Way of Life is filled with examples from television, movies, stand-up comedy, and social media—from Parks and Recreation and The Good Place to the Borat movies and Hannah Gadsby. Along the way, you’ll also learn about seventeen benefits of being a liberal—including generosity, humor, cheer, gratitude, tolerance, and peace of mind—and practical exercises to increase these rewards.
You’re probably already waist-deep in the waters of liberalism. Liberalism as a Way of Life invites you to dive in.
The Lost History of Liberalism
"The Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry—and a term of derision—in today’s increasingly divided public square. Taking readers from ancient Rome to today, Helena Rosenblatt traces the evolution of the words “liberal” and “liberalism,” revealing the heated debates that have taken place over their meaning.
In this timely and provocative book, Rosenblatt debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights. She shows that it was the French Revolution that gave birth to liberalism and Germans who transformed it. Only in the mid-twentieth century did the concept become widely known in the United States—and then, as now, its meaning was hotly debated. Liberals were originally moralists at heart. They believed in the power of religion to reform society, emphasized the sanctity of the family, and never spoke of rights without speaking of duties. It was only during the Cold War and America’s growing world hegemony that liberalism was refashioned into an American ideology focused so strongly on individual freedoms.
Today, we still can’t seem to agree on liberalism’s meaning. In the United States, a “liberal” is someone who advocates big government, while in France, big government is contrary to “liberalism.” Political debates become befuddled because of semantic and conceptual confusion. The Lost History of Liberalism sets the record straight on a core tenet of today’s political conversation and lays the foundations for a more constructive discussion about the future of liberal democracy."
In this timely and provocative book, Rosenblatt debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights. She shows that it was the French Revolution that gave birth to liberalism and Germans who transformed it. Only in the mid-twentieth century did the concept become widely known in the United States—and then, as now, its meaning was hotly debated. Liberals were originally moralists at heart. They believed in the power of religion to reform society, emphasized the sanctity of the family, and never spoke of rights without speaking of duties. It was only during the Cold War and America’s growing world hegemony that liberalism was refashioned into an American ideology focused so strongly on individual freedoms.
Today, we still can’t seem to agree on liberalism’s meaning. In the United States, a “liberal” is someone who advocates big government, while in France, big government is contrary to “liberalism.” Political debates become befuddled because of semantic and conceptual confusion. The Lost History of Liberalism sets the record straight on a core tenet of today’s political conversation and lays the foundations for a more constructive discussion about the future of liberal democracy."
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