Conversation

There seems to be a current within liberalism that’s basically faddish reactionary moral panic against the illiberal threat du jour. Mostly reactions against the left, and in egregious cases against the right.
2
6
This crowd doesn’t seem to have what we might call a native/wild liberal streak grounded in something like active curiosity or openness to experience. But the like the abstract idea of such a liberal drive existing even if they don’t feel it.
1
2
It’s funny to watch them rather studiously engage in things they feel they “ought” to enjoy like producing/consuming arts or science. They may even have some talent and painfully cultivated taste for it. But a deep joylessness radiates from how they do it.
1
3
Replying to
It’s not entirely insincere though. Part of it is a kind of cargo-culting. Some of them genuinely *want* to be liberals, and distance themselves from the alt-light crypto-fascism that is constantly threatening to swallow them.
1
3
Show replies
By contrast even utterly untalented and tasteless hacks at liberal arts and sciences who are natural/wild liberals seem to hugely enjoy themselves like kids even if they produce dreck. And they exhibit a fundamental indifference to esteem/acceptability etc.
1