Yeah, what is 'Post-Liberalism' anyway?

Questions for Ross Douthat

Dec 02, 2025

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"John Ganz has, correctly and aptly, simply had it with Ross Douthat. Douthat appears to think that liberals should take Douthat and the other members of his "postliberal" posse at their word: as keeping pluralism and toleration, discarding alienation and stratification, adding a kumbaya commitment to an agreeable “common good.” Ross Douthat claims to be a mere interpreter and attempted steerer of large historical forces, rather than a driver of a turn toward, well, neofascist evil. But Ganz has his number as he points out that He argues that intellectuals who whitewash cruelty—via “national conservatism,” “post‑liberalism,” or diet antisemitism under “globalist” rhetoric—bear responsibility. For we all know that euphemism is a very effective bad-idea political mobilization technology: "

- Brad DeLong

The “revelation” of the rampant antisemitism problem on the right kicked off a sub-debate about the responsibility of the so-called post-liberals for the turn of the conservative movement into open bigotry and unreason.

But before we attend to that: What is “post-liberalism?” There are two senses in contemporary usage. One is a self-conscious intellectua…

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