Liberalism needs to rediscover the ancient virtue of 'liberality' to regain moral imagination and aspirational power
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/by/the-ezra-klein-show. "Opinion | The Book That Changed How I Think About Liberalism - The New York Times." May 5, 2026. www.nytimes.com
The Gist
Klein argues that modern liberalism feels weak because it's lost touch with an ancient idea called 'liberality' - a virtue that combined personal freedom with generosity and duty to the common good. He thinks rediscovering this old-school approach to being a good citizen could help liberalism become inspiring again instead of just being against things.
Conclusion
Modern liberalism should rediscover and incorporate the ancient virtue of 'liberality' (generosity, devotion to common good, moral development) to become aspirational again and effectively counter illiberalism
Premises
- Contemporary liberalism feels weak and lacks clear vision, moral imagination, and aspirational quality despite illiberalism's failures
- Before 'liberalism' as a political philosophy existed, there was a 2000-year tradition of 'liberality' as a civic virtue emphasizing generosity, devotion to common good, and moral development
- Ancient liberality combined freedom with generosity and focused on voluntary moral development and citizenly obligations, not just individual rights
- Historical liberal thinkers like Cicero, Locke, and Lincoln understood that making society work requires citizens to develop specific virtues and behaviors toward each other
- Modern liberalism has lost this focus on character development and moral obligations, becoming overly focused on individual rights and choices
- Trump's behavior demonstrates the importance of civic virtues - his flouting of behavioral norms challenges what liberalism believes about how society functions
- Rediscovering liberality could provide one piece of the puzzle for revitalizing liberalism's moral and aspirational dimensions
Assumptions
- Liberalism's current weakness is primarily due to lack of moral vision rather than policy failures
- Ancient concepts of virtue can be meaningfully applied to contemporary political challenges
- Political movements need aspirational and moral dimensions to be effective
- Individual character and civic virtue are essential for democratic society to function
- The historical liberal tradition contains valuable insights that have been forgotten