2020: A Mixed Bag for Classical Liberalism

While 2020 has been a dreadful year because of Covid-19, its results for classical liberalism have been more varied. The appointment of Amy Coney Barrett has made the Court more originalist and thus more classically liberal than it has been for over a century. The results of the 2020 election were mixed. The candidate decidedly hostile to classical liberalism won, but his party fared far worse than expected when the recession and pandemic might have predicted a blowout in its favor. Nevertheless, the culture has become even less hospitable to classical liberalism with wokeness infecting not only our universities but our corporations. Because elective politics and the judiciary are ultimately transformed by culture, these cultural shifts create a negative balance sheet for classical liberalism as a new decade begins. Read Full Article »