For decades, the liberals have been very successful in moving the world towards greater liberty, pluralism, and justice. Before the current conservative backlash we saw unprecedented gains for women, ethnic minorities, and LGBT+ people, enacting decolonial and environmental policies, demilitarisation, free trade, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the tides are shifting and it looks like the conservatives around the world are ready to make a comeback. Agenda Europe<\/a> and Project 2025<\/a> outline clearly what they\u2019re after: rolling back hard-won rights and returning to more traditional values of authority, safety and community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pendulum is swinging back and I think it\u2019s time for the liberals to take stock and think hard about two things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Naturally, both questions are incredibly complex. I\u2019ll only focus on some aspects of it. At the end, I\u2019ll offer some suggestions for what you can personally do next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My grandparents recall the Soviet times in Poland very fondly because they had safe jobs and nobody was homeless. They worked diligently and earned a good pension despite having only a basic education. The fact that they never had a passport or could be persecuted for having divergent thoughts didn\u2019t bother them at all. They never had a need for either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are a good example of some well-studied psychological differences between those who tend to vote liberal or conservative. On average, conservatives tend to be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first two are Big 5 Personality Traits<\/a>, the last is an indication of intelligence. They all tend to be rather fixed\u200a\u2014\u200amostly innate or acquired in early childhood and very hard to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of us are more open to and interested in meeting new people and exploring new ideas. They\u2019re flexible and comfortable with a dose of chaos and uncertainty in their lives and thus happy to take risks\u200a\u2014\u200aespecially as they\u2019re generally smart enough to find their way out of hairy situations anyway. They tend to have an \u2018I\u2019ll be fine\u2019 attitude and thus a lower need for conceptual and institutional structures which help them feel safe. You can see how this fits with the liberal values of liberty, pluralism, or equal rights for those who are different from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Others, like my grandparents, don\u2019t have a strong need for novelty but value solid structure and organisation to help them deal with the chaos of life<\/a>\u200a\u2014\u200aespecially since they might not have the education to work out solutions on the fly. They do need more conceptual and institutional safety. No wonder they value tradition, community, and hierarchies which ensure it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, these are broad strokes. There are many people in between, you can have different combinations of these traits, and life events change your political views. But we\u2019re talking society-level statistics. See here<\/a> or here<\/a> for the science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think that the liberals have forgotten that this difference exists and assume everyone thinks or should think like them. We have been optimising our world for maximum liberty, pluralism and equality, forgetting that not everyone is as comfortable with them as we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a reason why my grandparents didn\u2019t mind the Soviet regime. They fit in perfectly and had no need to step out. They are exactly the sort of down-to-earth, play-by-the-rules, working-class people it was designed for. They never felt oppressed. Sure, they\u2019ve been denied opportunities\u200a\u2014\u200abut so what if they were safe and comfortable? It\u2019s not like they took any of those new opportunities that opened in the 90s anyway. I convinced them to take an international holiday once. They were unimpressed. \u2018Sure, it\u2019s different there, but so what? Have they got as good a pierogi as we do?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am very much not a down-to-earth play-by-the-rules kind of person. I don\u2019t like to do what I\u2019m told or follow the herd. I consider \u2018normal\u2019 to be an insult. I was extremely lucky to have been given an opportunity to break out of the mainstream and design my life as I please. I want my freedom, I want an open world, I want opportunities. I want to, as Karl Marx has famously said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming a hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic. (German Ideology<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But my grandparents think I must be really unhappy\u200a\u2014\u200athey regularly and sincerely wish me to finally get my life in order and settle down to be a hunter, a critic, or just something. You know, do things properly, the way they\u2019re done. Funny how little the Soviet mindset has to do with its Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a generational difference here, sure, but it\u2019s also personalities. Some people, irrespective of age, don\u2019t want to be different, try new things, redefine their lives, question cultural norms, or whatnot. They\u2019re just fine with how things are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why every tourist destination has a Starbucks, a Holiday Inn and pizza on the menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Liberalism aims to increase your life opportunities and give you more options\u200a\u2014\u200aespecially if those were denied to you due to your gender, race, ability, etc. Most liberals know what it\u2019s like to want to pursue our dreams but not be able to because of some daft rules, norms, or discrimination. To us, a liberal world order is a real gift:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look! In our fantastic new world, you can be anything!<\/em> But\u2026 what if you were happy with what you had? What if traditional society worked for, or even privileged you? What if you never wanted to pursue any of the things it denied to you anyway? Why should you care about the \u2018gift\u2019 of pluralism if the default option worked just fine for you? (Yes yes, I know, you should care for altruistic reasons\u200a\u2014\u200ahave some patience and read on!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Except it\u2019s not a gift, is it. There is a price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not just the Berlin Wall that fell with the Soviet regime. State borders opened. They dissolved further as eastern nations were included in the EU. Soon, liberal reforms removed barriers to education and jobs, tackled the glass ceiling, opened countries to immigration, blurred the boundaries between genders\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Liberal reforms, wherever in the world they happened, empowered those who could not fit, succeed or thrive within the old system. For them, these walls were barriers to opportunities. The world might seem a bit more chaotic without them, but most liberals are fine coping with uncertainty and besides, better an uncertain world where you can succeed than one where you will certainly fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for all those who did fit in, who already could succeed or didn\u2019t have much of a need to, those walls were never barriers at all. Instead, they formed a safety structure: a shared meaning and community, religion and culture, stable jobs, authorities you can trust. The safety of knowing what\u2019s what, of waking up in the same world you fell asleep in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Except, a single culture is the antithesis of diversity. Patriarchal religion enforces conformity and ossifies power. Authorities had colonial, sexist or exclusionary views. Tear down all those walls!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The liberals did not cause present-day job precarity but their education and openness to novelty make them better disposed to cope with it. And if the world of tomorrow will not be like today, that\u2019s just a new adventure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most liberals don\u2019t feel particularly unsafe without the walls they tear down. But the conservatives tend to be more conscientious and thus value a good structure and security net, and they might not have the openness or education to easily find new solutions. To them, those walls were kinda important. To them, this \u2018gift\u2019 they never wanted is pretty expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My grandparents were just confused by it all\u200a\u2014\u200athey get why you\u2019d want more economic opportunity, but why can\u2019t men just be men, women be women, and everyone be Christian? In 2005, the Polish people voted in a government more socially conservative than the Soviets. Talking of conservative backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, if you don\u2019t need the gifts of liberalism, if you don\u2019t see the problem with the walls, it\u2019s probably because you\u2019re privileged. The system was designed for, or at least not against people like you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not everyone was lucky enough to be born privileged. We shouldn\u2019t be opening doors and tearing down walls only for ourselves\u200a\u2014\u200awe should be doing it for others, out of empathy, moral duty, and commitment to justice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever I hear someone express this sentiment, I think back to good old Marx and his oh-so-na\u00efve theory of human nature (or species-being, as he called it). Once we free people from capitalist oppression, he thought, humans will follow their communal and productive nature and build an altruistic society where everyone will genuinely want to<\/p>\n\n\n\n hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Except, it turns out that there are way too many humans who would much rather watch Netflix all day and force others to do the work. Communism truly is a great political system, except humans are not good enough for it. Human nature is just as lazy and selfish as it is communal and productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this, I think, is what liberals often forget<\/a>. We all should fight for justice on moral principles, but in reality, we rarely do. The urgency we feel to break down walls is directly proportional to how much of an obstacle those walls are to us<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who fights for racial equality? Primarily racial minorities. Gender equality? Women. Rights of LGBT+, disabled, religious minorities\u2026 Sure, not enough men fight for women\u2019s rights\u200a\u2014\u200abut is it less than the white women who fight for racial equality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the men who do? Let\u2019s be honest. 90% never fit in the system anyway. They\u2019re not the sporty football kids, confident leaders, big muscle dudes, successful protectors and providers, or sex magnets. Coincidence? Or do they actually question the patriarchy mainly because it doesn\u2019t work for them<\/em>, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, there is a big difference between:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Why aren\u2019t you helping us fight for racial equality?\u2019 and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Why aren\u2019t you helping us fight for women\u2019s rights\u2019 But the point stands: most humans feel much more invested in addressing their own problems first. Or only. Because that\u2019s just how humans are: a bit good and altruistic, but also a bit lazy and selfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We might wish that we\u2019d been given stones and mortar to build our future world out of, but the truth is, we\u2019ve mostly got mud and clay. We can stand here complaining and shouting at the mud to become stone, but it just won\u2019t. All we\u2019ll build is a sore throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, I think what we need is a plan for how to build our world out of mud and clay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which brings me to the second question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n My grandparents might be old but people like them are born every day. People who don\u2019t need pluralism or novelty, who value stability, and who have less interest in education. And that\u2019s OK. Those people are just people, worthy of exactly as much kindness and respect as anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They don\u2019t need a diverse world of opportunity but they do need safety and stability offered by a shared understanding, by community, by trustworthy authorities. And their needs are valid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, the conservative backlash has people who are more or less overtly racist, sexist, and so on. But for many, the questions of race or gender just aren\u2019t a priority. They might have nothing against the gifts of liberalism and might be happy for others to enjoy them\u200a\u2014\u200athey just don\u2019t want to pay for them themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like all humans, they don\u2019t operate purely on moral principles but care for their own interests first. They\u2019re mud and clay. They\u2019d be less inclined to resist liberal reforms if they\u2019d benefit them or at least didn\u2019t cost them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And sure, some will stay racist and misogynist no matter what. For some, the very existence of queer people or immigrants is too much. Whatever. They\u2019re a lost game. But fortunately, we don\u2019t need to win everyone. We just need 51%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Big politics might be way above most of us, but we can all vote and use our platforms to call for action. Here\u2019s what I think we should be calling for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every one of us can do something to promote liberal values. The main task is to understand that the people we need to convince are unlikely to care about the things we care about, and instead appeal to what they care about: safety, community, and good old self-interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My grandparents and I are very different with respect to our needs for safety, freedom, community, diversity, our tolerance to change and uncertainty, our education and willingness to conform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is just how humans are. Some are thrilled about change and the opportunity to redefine their lives. Others prefer stability and something to define them. Over the last decades, most such things have been taken away: they don\u2019t have a stable career, their culture\u2019s bloody history means they can\u2019t be proud of it and their church is a patriarchal source of repression. Now we have a conservative backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Right gave them something new: anti-woke populism. They find community in being militantly against diversity and liberal values. They find safety in returning to traditional frameworks which, by the way, are sexist and racist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those needs stem from fundamental and likely innate character traits, and it is extremely unlikely that they will change or that fewer people like this will be born. There is nothing wrong with those people. They are not demons, Nazis or villains. They just have different needs and are pissed that the liberals don\u2019t care about them. And they vote for those who promise to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those aren\u2019t the needs to dominate women and exclude minorities. It\u2019s the need for financial safety, an accepting community, and something to define you. They can be satisfied by anti-woke populism, or we could try to offer something better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we do that, the \u2018cost\u2019 of liberal reforms diminishes massively. Sure, it will still be too high for many, but some will find it acceptable. They\u2019ll still find woke stuff mildly annoying but so what? They\u2019re not paying the price. Or maybe they\u2019ll even see a personal benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How many is \u2018some\u2019? Well, we don\u2019t actually need many. So probably enough to start winning elections and stop the pendulum of history from swinging us too far back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it\u2019s worth a try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you read this thinking: but the Democrats already did all of this, it\u2019s all about misinformation and America\u2019s racism and sexism, etc., let me gently remind you of two things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Why is Liberalism losing people?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The unwanted gifts of liberalism<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Isn\u2019t that amazing?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nWhen a wall is not an obstacle<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Liberals are idealistic about human nature<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Sorry, I\u2019m too busy fighting for women\u2019s rights!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Sorry, I\u2019m too busy watching Netflix!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nHow can we counteract the conservative backlash?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Political strategy against conservative backlash <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Personal strategy against conservative backlash<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Less division, more unity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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