Obliterating ‘Other’ness
another reason to ditch the old Liberalism for the New Liberalism
[As ever, “Liberalism” refers herein to the meta-ideology that has given rise to several narrower political ideologies, to include ‘liberalism’.]
The notion of the ‘other’ has befouled humanity from our first days on this planet. ‘Other’ness is considering people who are different to be inherently less worthy of consideration than people who are not different are.
Such difference can take many forms. ‘Race’ (color of skin) is a physical kind of difference that can produce ‘other’ness. Such difference can also be cultural, such as nationality/ethnicity as well as theology/ideology. Sex/gender is a source of such difference that combines physical and cultural aspects of the problem. In short, anything that can produce the ‘us/them’ mentality can be a source of ‘other’ness.
In old Liberalism difference is (in theory) not allowed to affect legal and political rights. That follows from a belief that people are morally equal.
To their credit, people on the Liberal ‘left’ have recognized that mere legal and political equality, even if it were fully and completely realized, would not be good enough. They have sought cultural equality. That has given rise to ‘wokeness’ and ‘critical theory’ (with many variations on each).
One problem with that approach to attempting to resolve the problem of ‘other’ness is that it perversely illuminates the existence of difference. The best it could accomplish would be to overcome the effects of ‘other’ness in people’s lives, but that is not dealing with ‘other’ness in itself. Moreover, it inevitably appeals to using the powers available through the offices of government to attack all social manifestations of ‘other’ness. That is itself contrary to the very idea of justice contained in old Liberalism (as well as this New Liberalism). After all, people living their lives according to their own beliefs as much as is possible for people living together in society is a central tenet of that meta-ideology. So that approach to the problem of ‘other’ness can actually turn ‘equality’ into an instrument of injustice. [To be sure, people on the Liberal ‘right’ — as well as people who are not (any longer) Liberals — also seek to use the offices of government to require people live according to the beliefs of a segment of ‘the people’.]
This New Liberalism makes no appeal to ‘equality’ (or for that matter any other belief, whether secular or sacral). It obliterates any pertinent vestige of ‘other’ness because in it all that matters for justice to apply to any relations among people is that the beings involved are humans. There is simply no place in it to form any claim of ‘inequality’ — on which any kind of ‘other’ness must ultimately depend — thereby creating a need to assert ‘equality’.
Recall that Liberalism came into the world at the time that Europeans were out encountering the rest of the world. Everywhere they went they saw that they were technologically superior to all of the peoples they met. That contributed to an attitude that they were also superior in every other way, to include their beliefs. Thus, to recognize — at least as a philosophical seed — a necessity for legal and political equality for all people, whatever their physical or cultural differences, was a tremendous intellectual accomplishment. That philosophical seed did in fact grow into a great tree of justice.
Yet, the old Liberalism has come up short. It was a giant leap forward for justice, but it was not the final answer. Now its intellectual and practical shortcomings are being exposed, resulting in an ongoing crisis for Liberal society.
It must be acknowledged that this New Liberalism might not be the final answer concerning justice, either. It might be the case that no final answer will ever be possible, that as knowledge continues to increase and civilization continues to evolve and and the material circumstances of humanity continue to change over time our understanding of justice will need to continue to advance in turn. One thing that is certain is that it is time for another step forward in our understanding of what justice is, with its implications for individuals, the political process, and the economy in governing the governance of a just society.
Applying New Liberalism to the governance of a Liberal society will result in changes big and small. All of its changes will be for the better.
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“A New Liberalism,” here in Medium (with nothing I publish here behind the paywall)