Classical Liberalism Without Strong Gods
Liberal societies cannot restore family life by decree, nor should they try. But they should stop undermining it. They can remove the welfare systems that penalise marriage and tax codes that undervalue caregiving. Families do not need strong gods. But they do need societies that stop punishing those who try to build something lasting.
Most importantly, liberalism needs to reclaim its moral ambition. It has too often ceded the language of meaning to its critics. In doing so, it has come to be seen as technocratic and rootless—more focused on process than purpose, more fluent in rights than in the common good. Meanwhile, as elites have drifted leftwards toward relativism or identity-based theory, they have actively disavowed the institutions they inherited. Into this vacuum have stepped challengers—from religious nationalists to populist authoritarians—who promise strength without principle and belonging without liberty.