(1) Liberalism: a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, & capitalism.

(2)“Liberalism has failed, paradoxically, because it has been successful,” Patrick Deneen proclaims.

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This essay is one potential vision for a post-Liberal America offered in the form of a prayer for our future potential. 

I’d like to make the case that Postmodernism is the end result of a successful Liberal cultural and political movement. In many parts of America and the broader Western world, we have nearly mastered ultimate individual liberty, free self-expression and astonishing levels of individual autonomy.

Many (though certainly not all) in today’s cultural leading-edge can travel the world freely, work from anywhere on our laptops, have access to the world’s information on our smartphones, believe in nearly any ideology or philosophy we can imagine, practice or not practice any spirituality that’s ever existed, have sex and marry nearly anybody who we want, create any type of family structure one could conceive of, create & share nearly any content we desire and claim it as truth — and all of this is 100% backed and supported by our American government, legal system and military.

Perhaps an emblematic example of this was the most successful ad against Kamala Harris this past year, which included a clip of her defending her position that the US government should fund transgender sex change operations for illegal immigrants in prison. Now that is government-sponsored freedom!

This, I’d argue, is the intersection of Liberalism and Postmodernism.

Liberalism doesn’t mean what we often refer to as “liberal” aka economically and socially progressive. Nor is it in opposition to conservative. Rather the entire construct of the American government is born from the underpinnings of Liberal philosophy and a Modern worldview, and the Republican Party historically is entirely part of this world order.

Similarly, I’d argue, Postmodernism is not just something that applies to hippies and Woke subgroups, rather it is the cultural ethos and primary operating system from which our society is now growing from (and as). Not to fall into a pre/trans fallacy, but Trump, I’d argue, is in many ways an illuminating depiction of some of the cultural shadow qualities of Postmodernism, even if his own ego developmental view is perhaps more emblematic of pre-modern not post-modern.

For example, truth is whatever he says it is, and it changes whenever he says it does. He is in many ways a wrecking ball aiming his fire at Modernist structures (our legal system, our constitution, our political & cultural norms, our ideas of civility and universal rights). He’s also aiming at Postmodernism itself in an attempt to destroy cancel culture and identity politics by, ironically, being the perfect depiction of both (“you’re fired!”).

Nationally, we can see and experience what the ultimate individual freedom of Liberalist structures and a Postmodern culture has in part brought us: skyrocketing rates of homelessness, suicide, depression, anxiety, existential insecurity, an AI takeover, the rise of extreme weather events due to climate change, a lack of strong international leadership, an income wealth gap unheard of in the modern era, mass internet addiction, a poorly educated and civics-illiterate population, chronic disease and a national health crisis, a media ecosystem with no shared understanding of “reality,” and a level of polarization that is teetering our nation on the brink.

Of course, there’s a million and one good, true and beautiful gifts that Liberalism and Modernism has graced our world with. The level of sovereignty, freedom, individuality, creative expression, economic abundance and safety from extreme violence (like wars) that one can experience is truly extraordinary. See Steven Pinker’s work for more on this.

But what Patrick Deneen, David Brooks, James Davison Hunter and an increasing chorus of voices are beginning to recognize is that the gifts of Liberalism and Postmodernism — economic prosperity, hyper-individuality, nearly unlimited personal freedom — are not actually (or solely) what brings humans deep meaning, actualized purpose, holistic wellbeing, and soulful joy.

Countless researchers have studied this in-depth, finding that intimate friendships and close relationships, a sense of meaningful contribution to one’s community (which requires one to actually have a community), a sense of feeling connected to something larger than oneself, a sense of being able to grow and prosper amongst & within collectives that support us and whom we can serve in return — these are some of the core recipes for a life joyfully lived.

What’s happening in America for many people, if not most, is that we live in such isolated bubbles of individuality with our own curated versions of goodness, truth and beauty — which we loudly and proudly identify as “freedom!” (Harris’ primary campaign slogan) — that we desperately lack meaningful connection to that which is larger than our self-constructed identities.

Furthermore, many of us have little to no meaningful connection with any religious tradition, spiritual lineage, national spirit, or a common set of principles & values that guides our lives as part of a higher order unfolding whole. Many of us are so far removed from being embedded in a guiding faith & morality lineage that we don’t even remember this is possible, or what it’s like.

In short: for many, we’re alone and often existentially lost, feeling in our bones that something isn’t right but embedded in a Liberal Postmodern bi-partisan philosophy which tells us that we are at the peak of human potential — that everything we could have ever wanted is right here for our grabbing.

So what comes next?

Has anyone noticed that cult documentaries are being pumped out on Netflix and Prime one after the next, and that people are totally eating them up?

Could this be a sign that the very thing we’re most afraid of and on the hunt to “cancel” is the very medicine of in-person community and meaningful connection (both to humans and to a higher moral order) that our Loneliness Epidemic times are longing for?

How do we move forward beyond Liberalism and Postmodernism — which one could say is just hyper-modernism — and into a new future that transcends and includes what came before it without falling into the same traps of the past nor totally deconstructing that which has truly given us so much?

Welcome to the liminal times of Post-Liberalism. And perhaps the birth of new Metamodern sensibilities…

I don’t know what this world will look like. But sometimes I get glimpses. Often I can feel it murmuring in my soul and beating beauty in my heart…

Perhaps it’s a world where the federal and state government’s primary role is to support the thriving of a diversity of collective experiments — ranging from modern coliving communities, to futuristic regenerative villages, to startup societies, to religious communities — which are Metamodern in the sense that they are free to be their individual unique collective selves while offering its community members a meaningful co-created culture that is connected to the deep roots of lineage and/or richly enacted shared values and embodied principles. These communities blossom not simply in silos rather interconnected into the founding principles and shared values of America itself. (Think patriotic Amish entrepreneurs!)

Perhaps the state and federal government’s role can be to help network and weave these communities into a larger collective that can share resources, wisdom, land & goods with one another, much like we do globally but on a more bioregional scale that is representing the environment itself as a shared partner in our economies.

Perhaps the federal government becomes much smaller yet holds a father-like energy protecting its people from wars that spill beyond the borders of the collectives where they started and ensuring a basic set of universal rights are protected in all states and all communities within those states.

Perhaps our political leaders become cultural ambassadors for our diverse American experiment, trading wisdom in Washington that gets transmitted back to the holons of collectives they represent, like a wisdom council for the nation.

Perhaps Washington, D.C. itself turns into a yearlong national cultural festival ground which unites the diversity of America in a shared spirit and embodied ethos that connects all the nation’s nodes into a living ever-evolving virtue that once again shines bright as a beacon for the world. (Burning Man for America?)

Perhaps every teenager in America is asked and supported by their government to live, work, serve and protect other communities in the nation, creating a cross-cultural incentive to weave and learn, both nationally and abroad. (Think Rumspringa meets PeaceCorps).

Perhaps part of our immigration process in joining the American experiment is to sponsor a three-month residency in an open community that embeds those just arriving to our nation in an existing ecosystem of support near where they plan to permanently locate.

Perhaps economies are regulated to promote markets and governing structures that are most regenerative for people and planet, including tax incentives for businesses operating in circular economics and other new paradigms that directly correlate to a wellbeing economy.

Perhaps our federal, state and bioregional health care, education and social services can be restructured to serve a uniquely tailored developmental unfolding path that each person, family and community have as part of their responsibility for being a part of the American story.

For example, our integrative, holistic health care system which is partly federally regulated yet locally implemented is designed to preventatively keep people healthy (emotionally, physically and spiritually) yet there is a level of personal responsibility that comes alongside the social systems, ensuring a reciprocity that leaves no one behind yet rewards behavior that is generative for the greater whole.

Perhaps each collective node in our nation is allowed to be at its developmental center-of-gravity expression as long as it abides by minimal viable national and state freedoms that protects the other nodes from harm. And perhaps our urban centers become intentional melting pots for our nodes to weave, share, trade, learn, and grow from & with one another.

Perhaps our legal system becomes an ethics council that ensures a basic set of universal rights while implementing various enforcement mechanisms based on the context of the situation that aim to keep the majority of the structures as local and community-based as possible.

Perhaps the internet becomes a networked skills and wisdom sharing tool that allows for open learning across the globe, perhaps even requiring each community to share certain learnings like a wisdom census that is part of the “tax” or “tithes” we pay back to our nation, and our world.

The ideas here are endless, and most I imagine have yet to be imagined.

The meta-aim of this vision is to create happier, healthier, and more connected to self, community, country and cosmos humans who are of mutual service to each other and our planet by being more of their unique selves held by the soils of a deep collective connection which paradoxically liberates a multidimensional freedom that, ironically, Liberalism can likely never know.

I’m under no illusion that these structural changes would take place in a few years, perhaps not even in my lifetime. And of course, there’s a million ethical and practical questions about how they would be designed and implemented. But they feel, to me, compelling to contemplate and worthy of prototyping on a smaller scale, as many are already doing.

I hope this vision can ripple imagings in your own heart, mind and soul which can continue to weave and dance in our collective psyche as these Post-Liberal liminal times unfold our future potential.

Please share your ideas, pushback, suggestions or insights so that we can co-create the future of our dreams, together.

May it be so!