Do Liberals Want a Beautiful World?

Salad chains, consultant-speak, Parks & Rec. Is this really the world that liberals want? Or, is there a more beautiful vision of what kind of world we could build together, what all of this liberty is for? This question is increasingly urgent, as self-consciously  illiberal movements, leaders and thinkers have gained greater prominence over the past several years, excoriating liberalism as bland, banal and ugly. Defenders of mainstream liberalism have often responded by calling for more choice, more resource, more capacity–but to what end? Can liberalism survive without demonstrating that it can give rise to a form of life that is rich, satisfying, and perhaps even beautiful?

To address these vital, knotty questions, the Public Culture Project is delighted to host one time Harvard grad student and current New Yorker Writer Becca Rothfeld, whose recent piece in The Point addresses these topics. She will be joined by Jon Baskin, Founding Editor at The Point, as well as Law School Professor Cass Sunstein, whose book On Liberalism was one of Rothfeld’s examples in her Point piece. Their conversation will be moderated by the English Department’s James Wood.