Ever since the end of the covid-19 pandemic in 2022, I’ve noticed that both left wing progressives, and right wing conservatives, are equally advocating for larger and more overtly tyrannical government. I’m a little shocked by this, as both sides used to at least pay lip service to the liberal heritage of the United States. However, both sides have seemingly abandoned the liberal cause, and instead opt to overtly talk down about liberalism. What perplexes me further, is that even so called libertarians, social democrats, are overtly abandoning small government principles, and advocating for tyranny. I believe that liberalism was a dying ideology, and the covid-19 pandemic killed off any popular support for liberalism. I believe just about every political faction is now openly vying for power. The liberal experiment has come to an end.
I discussed this issue on The Statecraft Series, a podcast I participate in with two friends of mine. What spurred this discussion, and this musing, is something I’ve been running into as of late: Libertarians who support the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele, and his crackdown on the gang violence in the country by throwing gang members in jail without charge or trial. The libertarians I’ve been communicating with state that there is no need for a trial, as the people being thrown in jail are “well known gang members, with facial tattoos”. I personally do not have any issue with throwing criminals in jail; However I do have an issue with throwing anyone in jail, even guilty people, without giving them a fair trail. What further horrified me, is that Carl Benjamin’s Lotus Eater’s outfit also heaped praise on Bukele, going on to state that no charge or trial was necessary. Even today, the Lotus Eaters stated that it was ok to torture the Moscow theater shooters.
Scoffing at the phrase “A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens, but how it treats its criminals”, is rather horrifying, and cuts at the heart of liberalism, and the presumption of innocence. We should not torture criminals, even convicted criminals, because they are ultimately human beings no different from you or myself. To torture another is to torture yourself. Furthermore, while I have no issue putting people in jail for convicted crimes, there is always a kernel of doubt as to whether or not someone is actually guilty, or how guilty they are for the crime they alleged to have committed. We presume innocence because we would rather have guilty people go free, rather than wrongly imprison a single innocent person, and we even allow guilty people to appeal because the trial may have had false information, incorrect information, or false or incorrect procedures. Even if the imprisoned criminal is 100% guilty, I still think torturing imprisoned people is a morally repugnant idea. If you can torture someone who has the least amount of power in a society, what could you do to people who have slightly more power, but still less power than the law enforcement arm? Are rights something that are only tolerated during the good times, and only with people who have no allegations of wrongdoing against them?
I’m personally not religious, but I can safely say that liberalism would not exist without Christianity. The liberal idea of innocence, and fair treatment of all stems from the teachings of Christ, and the idea that all human beings are redeemable, and thus ought to be protected for harm or ill will. Yet, especially with the right wing conservatives and libertarians, these ideas are shrugged off as weak, and that it is ok for the state to harm those popularly believed to be guilty of criminal behavior. What’s more, is that the left wing progressives have also come to a concurrence with the right. Those who participated in January 6th were raided, and imprisoned without charge or trial for over 2 years. Even in America, disgusting affronts to our rights and liberties are enacted by our own government, under the thin veneer of protecting public safety from dangerous rightwing extremists. I’m unsurprised that the largely atheist left, which has for more than a century, advocated for a larger and more tyrannical government, would act this way when they had power in government. I am surprised that conservatives, and more so libertarians, are cheering on the death of the principles that built America.
I contend that the covid-19 pandemic, and the public and government reaction to covid-19, killed any last semblance of liberalism. The left wing believed that harsh and authoritarian measures were needed to combat the disease, and wherever left wingers had control, used the maximum force they could to do so. Right wingers did not want to go along with this, and largely felt forced to, and didn’t see any of the protections that our system was built on actually go into effect and protect them from the tyrannical mandates. I believe that both sides of the political spectrum reached the same conclusion: There is only power, and ideals and morals only exist for your side. And as such, we are seeing people who ought to reflect on the errors of tyranny, instead believe it to be a lesson on how to enact tyranny.