Mead is still arguing that the old blue social model is unsustainable (I suppose the red would be too, to some extent, on this view). The government can’t prop up what has been lost with unsustainable spending and a vastly increased Federal project. Mead thinks we need a new liberalism now that the old has diffused itself upon the loss of manufacturing, private sector jobs, globalization etc. He finishes with:
‘We’ve wasted too many years arguing over how to retrieve the irretrievable; can we please now get on with the actual business of this great, liberal, unapologetically forward-looking nation.’
At the same time, perhaps more liberal attitudes are becoming more prevalent in American society, or at least perhaps there is a waning of religious conservatism and religion in the public square.
Related On This Site: Walter Russell Mead At The American Interest: ‘Rhode Island: Athens of America?’
He explains what he thinks that blue social model is in depth, and the people who make it up: Thoughts On Walter Russell Mead At The American Interest: “Why Blue Can’t Save The Inner Cities Part I”
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