consumerist social democracy is not liberalism, nor communism—without universalism, "the state is ethically obligated to provide for its citizens" could lead to violent wars of partition
(Panagiotis Kondylis' predictions at the end of the cold war, 1992ish)
I and others have been saying this for a bit now but Western Liberal Democracies are no longer nations of citizens with moral rights and obligations to each other but rather nations of consumers where literally the only thing a lot of people care about are their treats.
the resurgence of nationalism is easy to explain (though repugnant); people even invent ethnicities to secure benefits from the welfare state.
Social democracy without liberalism has new problems, but no one has grappled with the end of liberalism.
Jan 31, 2026 16:36
