Liberalism's Epistemological Meltdown ｜ 4⧸17⧸25
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
146.07932
Summary
Since the Enlightenment, liberalism has aimed to remove politics from the political. Given that human history is largely defined by clashing worldviews and violent conflict, the impulse to tame this dynamic is understandable. Liberalism, grounded in secular neutrality and the rule of law, sought to suppress the passions that drive men to war. Its answer was to distribute power widely enough so that no single leader s rage or charisma could lead a nation into chaos. This project has reached its apex in today s managerial neoliberal regime, where secular humanism serves as the ruling creed and experts are tasked with determining the truth.
Transcript
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We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
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Fast-free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land.
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Wi-Fi available to Airplane members on Equipped Flight.
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Since the Enlightenment, liberalism has aimed to remove politics from the political.
00:00:35.840
Given that human history is largely defined by clashing worldviews and violent conflict,
00:00:40.800
the impulse to tame this dynamic is understandable.
00:00:43.900
Liberalism, grounded in secular neutrality and rule of law,
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sought to suppress the passions that drive men to war.
00:00:50.580
Its answer was to distribute power widely enough
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so that no single leader's rage or charisma could lead a nation into chaos.
00:00:57.360
This project has reached its apex in today's managerial neoliberal regime,
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where secular humanism serves as the ruling creed and experts housed in supposedly impartial institutions
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But the cracks in this foundation began forming long ago.
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Our ruling class members have willingly torched the credibility of the very institutions they rely on for legitimacy,
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all in pursuit of temporary political advantage.
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That destruction has accelerated a collapse that now feels inevitable.
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Liberalism faced an epistemological crisis and failed to meet the challenge.
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Like every tradition that can't defend its intellectual ground,
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It claims to free society from bitter conflicts over religion and identity.
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It promises a greater scale of cooperation by stripping away regional particularities,
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traditions, customs, and prejudices that make governing diverse populations more difficult.
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Even technical differences tied to nationhood like currency, units of measurement, or contract law obstruct trade.
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By creating institutions that claim neutrality in matters of faith, culture, and commerce,
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liberalism increased the scale of possible coordination.
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It built what amounted to a minimum viable morality,
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a lowest common denominator that allowed incompatible systems to function together.
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Well, the same minimum morality now appears insufficient to hold anything together.
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Instead of serving specific peoples with particular needs,
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modern institutions staffed by credentialed experts aim to impose rational, universal standards on everyone.
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The administrators of the system are chosen not for their biases,
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These institutions soon become more than arbiters.
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In the liberal order, they're the only legitimate source of knowledge.
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The economic benefits of this arrangement are obvious.
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Large-scale cooperation yields immense material gain.
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Yes, traditions and religious customs may get eroded in the process,
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When I found out my friend got a great deal on a designer dress from Winners,
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Like that woman over there with the Italian leather handbag.
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As long as the ruling class preserves the credibility of the institutions,
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Managerial liberalism turned experts into the new priestly caste,
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As long as the economy grew and the promises were kept,
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no one questioned the myth of neutral expertise.
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They stretched their credibility to justify wars,
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even when it clearly wasn't in the public interest.
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Those who ran the system began treating institutional trust as a political currency to be spent.
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They traded legitimacy for short-term advantage,
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eroding the very foundation that kept their authority intact.
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This trend hit its apex during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
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Across the board, from the World Health Organization to local physicians,
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experts promoted obvious falsehoods to maintain power.
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After watching that coordinated institutional collapse,
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the public started asking uncomfortable questions.
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the most trusted experts in life and death matters,
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Its members' entire strategy relies on institutional consensus
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This is why disillusioned liberal voices like Sam Harris or Douglas Murray,
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now beg the public to get back in the box and stop asking questions.
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Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with how we know what we know.
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Truth was whatever expert consensus declared it to be.
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depends on its ability to confront and resolve an epistemological crisis.
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and so far the only answer from the ruling class
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has been to scream shut up as loud as they can.
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MacIntyre also insisted that resolving a crisis
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It demands understanding why the old one failed in the first place.
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But the current elite show no capacity for that kind of self-reflection.
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and cancellation from experts who should be asking
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The global neoliberal order has hit an epistemological wall,
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and its expert class members lack the wisdom or self-awareness to break through it.
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They'll continue screeching and lashing out in defense of a collapsing worldview.
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The era of rule by experts is coming to an end.
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it will not be governed by the priests of expert consensus.
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