Bloomberg: Liberalism Is Under Siege. Conservatives Can Save It.

Hal Brands writes:

“How can democratic countries resist their authoritarian rivals abroad at a time when illiberal ideas are on the rise at home? This was a challenge faced by the parties of the American and European center-left during the Cold War, when the need for a strong stand against the Soviet Union led them to break with communist sympathizers and pro-Soviet elements. A parallel problem is afflicting many of the democratic world’s conservative parties today.

As international rivalry intensifies, the core strategic task for the U.S.-led democratic community is to contain the geopolitical influence and political disruption caused by authoritarian great powers, namely China and Russia. Yet that task is made all the harder because illiberalism — and sympathy for those illiberal powers — is simultaneously surging among key actors on the political right. If the U.S. and its allies are to succeed in the great global rivalry of the 21st century, the right must confront the threat of illiberalism within its ranks — just as the left did during a previous twilight struggle in the 20th century. …

It is not for nothing that the political scientist Marc Plattner has written that the gravest threat to liberal democracy today is “that it will end up being abandoned by substantial segments of the right.” And even in the U.S., there are alarming signs that conservative commitment to the norms of liberal democracy is under strain.

A Republican member of Congress, Steve King, has proudly embraced “white nationalism.” Longtime conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan has lauded Putin as the model for “conservatives, traditionalists and nationalists of all continents and countries.” …

In Europe, Putin’s Russia has supported — with money, cyberattacks and other tools — the National Rally and other parties of the nationalist right. Those parties, in turn, generally favor a return to normal relations with a country that persistently meddles in European politics and has dismembered two of its neighbors since 2008. Similarly, American policymakers have long hoped that Brazil would emerge as a bulwark of the liberal international order. Yet Bolsonaro’s foreign minister has proposed uniting with Russia, the U.S. and the Christian world in an alliance against the onslaught of “postmodern ‘liberal’ ideology.”

SPOILER: liberalism is now the most obsolete -ism.

Bruh, there is just one huge problem with this “center-right” take: there is no constituency for Right-Libertarianism anymore, Left-Authoritarians are the “center” of American electorate and the United States has an authoritarian political majority, not a libertarian one.

Trump was elected in 2016 by rousing a conservative-populist coalition. It was an authoritarian coalition that appealed to restoring America’s lost greatness. Basically, Trump told the Boomers he was going to take them back to the 1950s before selling out to the donors.

Yang is running in 2020 by smartly trying to rouse a New Deal-style populist-progressive coalition. It is also an authoritarian coalition, but the vision here is moving the country past partisan polarization and obsolete thinking to create a new 21st century social and economic order. Basically, Yang is telling Millennials and Zoomers he is going to harness the power of deep learning AI – the electricity of the 21st century – to abolish wage slavery and move the country into the 2020s.

As a peaceful populist, I want a president who is going to oppose regime change wars like Yang. I don’t want to fight China or Russia. No one except all these liars and fearmongers in the media wants to see American troops fighting in stupid, endless wars in places like Syria, Afghanistan or Venezuela. What’s more, the Russia conspiracy hoax was nothing but a lie that was sold 24/7 by the media and the political establishment for 2 years and it had no basis in fact.