Liberals are losing power, there are cries, we see theatrical speeches of powerlessness, and some thought patterns are becoming much clearer. For example, Francis Fukuyama (yes, the legendary author of The End of History) is more active than in recent years.
Interestingly, when he talks about the rule of law, institutions, rules and the protection of the people from arbitrary rulers, he completely conflates it with the rule of liberal A narrow liberal elite has the right to rule arbitrarily over the lives of others, can enforce anything, is not bound by anything. It has the right to punish for dissent, to censor and cut off dissenters from vital services. It has the right to impose senseless measures, to plunge millions of people into into poverty under the pretext of climate protection, to plunge millions into a life of fear and violence by importing millions of aggressive migrants, etc. That is, what we would would be described as injustice and despotism. But to Francis Fukuyama’s brain, each of of these horrible things is conflated with the rule of law, freedom and democracy. If you told him they were the opposite, he’d tap his forehead and not even he wouldn’t understand what you’re talking about.
And judging by the reactions of his debate partners, they seem to see it the same way. Are they crazy? They’d think you were crazy.
A few days ago, I wrote about situations here, where people from opposite political camps are unable to work together. Part of that may involve creating different worlds with different facts and different logical rules.